BatMan: The Daughter of both a Clown and a Bat
by RJ Morre
Summary: After successfully kidnapping Dick's only child the Joker trains her to be as deranged and dangerous as he was to do his bidding and help him to take over Gotham City. However, all this changes when his daughter that he had train to be a carbon copy of himself develop an attachment to the current Robin, Damien. Will they be able to keep their growing attraction from their parents?
1. Prologue

***I guess this another Batman project, I got the idea after watching Batman Beyond Return of the Joker, so enjoy and review***

**Prologue**

Crying filled the air of an old prestigious hospital with in Gotham as the staff celebrated yet another child brought into the world safely due to their handy work. The source of the crying came from a small delivery room on the thirteenth floor of the hospital that only contained a doctor, a few nurses, and the newly formed family.

"Look at her Richard, isn't she the most beautiful thing you've ever laid your eyes on?" A woman with long flowing blond hair questioned her husband as she watched the medical team who had delivered her baby clear out to give them some space, which she happily accepted after nine hours of labor.

"One of them," Dick replied with a soothing warm voice as he sat next to where his wife was lying on the hospital bed with their new-born daughter. For a moment his wife was speechless as she held her husband's loving and warm gaze, while her cheeks burned red with a light pink blush as she acknowledged his indirect compliment. Out of all the daring victories and his exciting life as the boy wonder none of those experiences could ever be compared to this one in Dick's heart. After years of playing lone wolf since he quit being Robin and left Wayne Manner he had a family he could call his own; one, in which, he had complete freedom in and one he intended to protect no matter what the cost was.

"What shall we name her?" Dick's wife questioned while noticing that the little baby snuggled up in blankets had managed to cry herself out and was now peacefully fast asleep. This question made Dick fall deeper into thought as he flipped through possible female names that might suit the beautiful baby girl who had soft pale skin, a full head of black hair that resembled her father's, and dazzling bright green eyes. For countless moments the air was filled with nothing but the calming ticks of the hospital room clock as the time moved closer to midnight as they pondered hard looking for a name that the little girl would grow up with, a name that she could bear with confidence. It was moments before midnight when a name flashed into the mind of Dick's wife who blurted out the name Tarrin. The utterance of the name brought a surprise look upon Dick's face but as he thought deeper upon the suggestion he started to like the name, after all, it wasn't too girly sounding, a few nicknames could be derived from the name, and the more it was repeated in his head the more he liked the sound of the name.

"Fine, well I guess we'll call her Tarrin, Tarrin Grayson," Dick announced as he hugged the most important girls in his life while he kissed his wife on the forehead in celebration of all their hard work of making their relationship work finally paying off, and nothing not even the even batman could ruin this moment. Even though it's been some years since he had gone underground and quit his crime fighting days he could never really could shake the feeling of fear of not being able to get away from the world he once lived in, but most importantly Bruce Wayne and everything he stood for. Right now he had; it seemed to him that ever since he had met his wife the fear of not being able to leave his past behind him had disappeared, and the birth of Tarrin had just confirmed to him that maybe everything was really just behind him. And maybe, just maybe he can also live for once like a normal human being who could come home to a loving family.

A sound of an explosion and the shattering of the hospital's window that held a view of the whole of Gotham brought Dick back to a reality he never wanted to face again, a reality that he had thought he washed his hands of it three years ago after he had met his wife. An excoriating pain had ripped through Dick's chest, which sent him falling limply across his wife's lap, just barely missing the baby. The very sight came with an agonizing cry from Dick's wife that consumed the air. Dick tried to calm her down in fear of waking the baby to the sight of her father gushing out blood all over the bed they were lying on, but as much as he wanted to tell her everything would be alright he couldn't not with the fact that he had been shot in a vital spot in his chest, not to mention by the way his body convulsed in out of a paralyzed state that bullet probably was poisoned.

It was a matter of seconds before they faced the sick bastards who just ruined three years of security that Dick had finally left the part of him that lived for the evil that lurked in the dark allies of Gotham during the night. Loath and hate radiated off Dick's being as he saw the head of the whole sick operation, and to be honest Dick wasn't really surprise to see the man who walked gracefully into his family's hospital room, from a rope that was coming out of his probably clown themed helicopter, after all he always knew Joker was capable of such evil. The evil clown walked gracefully and confidently towards them along with his foot soldiers with a crazed and maniacal face as if it wasn't out of sorts that he was here ruining Dick's only chance for a normal life.

"Why isn't this is a lovely family…well was a lovely family scene," the evil clown cooed as he casually sat at the end of the hospital bed, while in the same motion raising a gun towards Dick's wife's head.

"W-w-why are you here and what do you want with us," Dick's wife demanded with gritted teeth as rage poured into her with a glance at her husband's deteriorating state. If Dick wasn't at this moment losing a truck load of blood, fighting against the urges from unconsciousness, or constantly slip in and out of progressively longer periods of paralyzation, Dick may have fond a whole new reason to have fallen in love with the woman he had married.

"Oh, Dicky boy or should I say Nightwing never told you about me? Wow I'm hurt and to think we had such great times together when he and Batman were fighting crime together, but I didn't come for you I came for…what was her name again…Tarrin was it?" Joker replied with a mock wounded expression plastered across his face. Dick's face darkened as he saw the clown pointing to his wife who was snuggling the new born towards her body to protect Tarrin from the lights of the psycho in front of them.

"Y-you…well…never…"

"Take her, Dicky? Well while you're in that state and when your wife is dead there won't really be anyone to stop me."

With that he ended it all before Dick's wife could blink or begin to call for help the Joker in front of them pulled the trigger releasing a powerful bang that sliced through the air sending the love of Dick's life to appear lifeless as blood gushed out of her head from where the bullet had entered her skull. By this time Tarrin was a wake the noise of the gun firing had awoken her almost instantly into a crying fit. Although Dick knew that Tarrin may never understand what had just occurred, why she was now lying in loose and limp arms, or the significance of the blood that was now dripping from her mother's onto her forehead, but the very thought of her witnessing the whole seen through her bright green innocent eyes enraged him. How dare the Joker taint her with the curse Dick now knew he could never escape, one that will continue to hunt him long after he's under a grave.

"Grab the child," the clown ordered with satisfaction as he took one more glance at his handy work before getting up and motioning to the rest of his clown dressed minions to follow him as one firmly took hold of Dick's squirming child as she wailed hard and louder, as if she could tell that she would never see her parents again.

"Bring…her…back…you-"

"Oh yeah, and finish him off too," the Joker ordered while stepping out of the hospital room while the rest of his soldiers followed him. That night during one of the happiest moments of Dick's life it end both because of the metal bullet wedged into his head, but also since both of the girls he held most dear, the ones he vowed to protect and make happy both were brutally taken away from him for unknown reasons he may never comprehend.

* * *

"I'm sure deep down Master Dick knew your feelings, he was just getting to that time all children most past to claim their adult hood and that's leaving the nest, sir," Alfred stated. Bruce pondered over the matter on Dick and his wife before the two men buried the last of the Dick's wife's body the only one they managed to uncover from the crime scene covered with the blood of her husband to the point they assumed no one could have survived the massive blood loss no matter where Dick's body was.

"Yeah, from now on I will strive to bring justice to this case," Bruce vowed as he took one last look at the gloomy sight before disappearing along with Alfred with the darkness of Gotham City.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Do you really think that she's really ready? Puddin," Harley inquired as she put the finishing touches on her daughter's makeup for her first time out committing crime. It was their little girl's fourteenth birthday and the Joker thought it was about time he took the learning of his prodigy up to the next level. Ever since Tarrin could remember she had been trained in fighting, drilled to think that anything that had to do with her father's archenemy Batman was evil and was meant to be destroyed, and any other thinking would get her abused by her father.

"Oh I think she's ready alright, it's time to show Batsy that he isn't the only one who can make an army of young children that follow his every command," Joker replied as he put the finishing touches on his latest plot which was pumping Joker gas into the Gotham water supply. When he was done he walked over to his daughter and his lover Harley who was admiring her work when Joker kicked her out of the way so he could get a look at their daughter. What he saw was a lean girl with her raven black that was dyed green tide into a long ponytail that nearly brushed against the floor, her face painted pure white with purple lipstick that matched her purple and black plaited dress and purple tights, worn with black flats to finish of her look. Joker smiled with pleasure indicating to Harley that her Puddin loved what she did to their child.

"Now Tarry, what's your name when you're out with Pop's?"

"It's Bonnie Doll."

"And who is the bad guy?"

"Batman."

"And why is he the bad guy?"

"Because he's one purpose is destroy our plans in making Gotham laugh."

"And what must we do to those that ruin our fun?"

"Kill them," Tarry answered to receive a pat on her head as her father ushered her towards the Joker mobile where her mother was already seating in the front passenger seat waiting for Joker to kick of their newest plan to bring a smile to dreary Gotham.

"Let's go put a smile on Gotham shall we?"

"Wait!" Harley exclaimed, which caused her lover to shoot an annoyed glare at her as he knew whatever she was going to say wasn't going to please him.

"What is it this time Harley?"

"Bonnie do you want to use the washroom before we leave?"

"No mother."

"And the last thing is, are you all buckled in?"

"Yes mother."

"Now that the mundane parental sentiment is over can we go!" Joker yelled at Harley. With a scared nod of her head Joker started up the car and was soon driving out of the abandoned fun house they called home driving like a mad man.

Tarrin sat in the car trying keep down her lunch she couldn't help wonder what the Batman was like in person. She has only ever heard about him from her father, and despite the fact that her father had not only taught her to think of Gotham's saver as the evil one but also tortured it into her. Although she hated the batman for the pain and agony his very existence has caused her she wanted to make her own judgment on who Batman really was.

It didn't take them long before they arrived at the docks of Gotham Harbor where they did not waste a second in setting up their master plan after all with the threat of the Batman swooping in at any moment every second counted.

"Now Bonnie Doll, it's your job to keep watch for your Daddy J, so if you see anyone come this way gas them, if you see a man in a bat costume change the setting on your bazooka and blast him out of the sky, understood?"

"Yes Mommy," Bonnie cooed in a fringed cute tone that cased Harley to sigh with adoration before bouncing off to go help Joker start up his gas machine. Once her mother was clearly out of sight Bonnie rolled her eyes in disdain both at the fact that her was an idiot because she was still with her father that Bonnie knew would never love anyone but himself and being left with the stupid job of lookout while her parents were having all the fun, or so she guessed by her father's crazed laughter as she heard his machine start up. _Well if I'm going to be left with this lame ass job might as well do it properly so I don't end up abused after this,_ she thought as she slung her medium sized bazooka that was as purple as the rest of her outfit. She passed the dock yards for what seemed like hours keeping lookout and by the time the moon was clearly in the sky she was fully vexed at the little action she has seen as she looked upon the two alley cats with petrified smiles on their lifeless faces. _This sucks,_ she thought to herself as she wondered if the Batman was really as annoying as her father had described to her after all shouldn't he be here by now? _Maybe the Batman's only a figment of father's imaginat-. _She broke out of her sulking state when she saw a black shadow zoom across the air. Even though she had no idea whether it was a bird or the actual deal she picked up her bazooka and switched it to destructive mode in the same motion with a brilliant smile on her face in anticipation that the very presences of this black bat shaped figure was going to spark some life into her currently bored disposition.

"3…2…1!" with that count down sent a blast sailing through the air that was followed after with a dazzling light show that got the attention of the two hysterical clowns that were watching the aftermath of people in their houses dying due to their handy work.

"Good job Doll, I think you might got them good!" Harley squealed as she ran to hug her daughter in pride, but she stopped in her strides to her daughter when two bater rangs came zooming in between them.

"You really thought that Batman would be shot by a child, Idiot!" Joker growled at Harley as he glared up to see his archenemy along with his trusty side kick that Joker had learned was Bruce Wayne's son Damien Wayne. Joker cursed under his breath silently as he tried to think of a getaway plan, especially if it meant facing not only Batman but as well as his cruel brute of a side kick.

As both the Batman and the Boy Wonder landed gracefully on the docks they instantly went into fighting stances as they came upon the scene of Harley with a massive bazooka pointed at them along with the Joker with two guns in his hand cocked and load, and ready to fire both at the bat and bird.

"Really Joker? Gas the main water supply? I suppose the heartless don't need the essentials like drinkable water," Batman's young sidekick taunted with a wicked smirk as he whipped out his sword.

"We'll see who has the last laugh Bird Boy," Joker announced as he let lose the bullets in his gun that both highly trained superheroes dodged more or less effortlessly as anyone could when dodging a hail storm of bullets at the same time the missiles that Harley was aiming at them.

"Robin, I'll handle Joker and Harley you stop the machine," Batman ordered causing Robin to nod towards him in understanding before shooting a graveling hook at a bunch of crates that stood between him and destroying the Joker's latest toy. As Bonnie saw the boy around her age with messy short black hair cladded in a red, black, and yellow robin suit making his way towards her father's machine she knew she had to stop him or face punishment for failure for it wasn't just her duty to keep a look out for her parents she also had the duty of dealing with Batman's sidekick; it was what she was trained in several fighting styles for.

The boy was half way towards the top of the crates when Bonnie threw a knife that cut through the rope of Robin's graveling hook while in the process cutting a shallow cut into Robin's left cheek. With Robin's quick reflexes he was able to grab onto the ledge of the crates but barely.

"That's my girl, Batsy and Bird Brain, I would love to introduce you to my daughter, Bonnie Doll, ain't she a bundle of joy?" Joker introduced as his daughter walked calmly into the center of the docks where they were fighting to reveal to both Batman and Robin's shock a young girl that looked like Joker's mini-me but without the derange look about her that was so dominated in the Joker's features.

"Do you expect me to believe you and Harley had a child? Where did you get her?"

"Well, hate to admit it we got her through committing the legal act of the birds and the bees. Of course she's ours don't you see the resemblance?" The Joker cackled out especially when he saw the grimace on Batman's face. He hated the thought that a child around the same age as his son was Joker's puppet; it made it especially worse because he knew that this sort of life couldn't be her choice and she probably knew nothing more than the Joker's madness.

"Puddin it doesn't seem like they believe us."

"You're right Harley and I know what will make our story authentic, oh Dolly be dear and kill the helpless birdy, I'm sure old Batsy over here has a billion more where he came from," the Joker chuckled as he watched his daughter make her way to her ordered target with an amused smile that tickled his heart that he had finally done it. He was able to get his own child sidekick after many failed attempts, but this was one topic of the Joker's and Batman's relationship that he wasn't willing to lose.

By the time Bonnie had gotten to Robin he had climbed the edge of the crates and was waiting for his opponent with anticipation to test his skills out on what he was considering a stupid crazed girl who was just going to end up like her father rotting in jail or under a tombstone whichever came first to her. Either way the level of respect that Robin had for her wasn't good enough to rival the ground he stood on.

"So what are you going to do smoother me with cooties to kill me or are we talking fill my head with gossip until it explodes?"

"Tempting but it would be really too boring if that's what it took for you to push up daisies," Bonnie retorted as she wiped out two butcher's knives that were buckled to her legs underneath her dress. Both of them stared each other down with relentless hate as they both knew this battle was to determine who was the better sidekick and neither wanted to disappoint their fathers.

Bonnie made the first move as she charged at him with her knives poised to make her kill; however, this was Robin in question and he skillfully blocked both knives with his sword. From then on they went at each other with Bonnie skillfully trying to hack at the boy with deadly precision and swiftness, while Robin blocked her every move along with throwing in some attacks that amazed him how he couldn't land a single hit on her even though he was using moves that the greatest of the great in sword battles have taught him. Robin found himself hating her more and more only because with her every movement made his respect as a worthy advisory grow more and more. Usually he wouldn't care if he met someone who could match his talent it would have just forced him to train harder to improve himself, the problem in this case was the person who was matching his skill and technique was a part of the clown family, which he has never had much respect for, and who could blame him with the Joker being a sick maniac and Harley in his own description takes the meaning of stupid to a whole new level.

"What's the matter Robin are you tired already? Maybe I should've taken your suggestions and killed you the boring way," Bonnie cooed sweetly as she flashed a challenging smile that Robin couldn't back away from even if he wanted to.

"As if you're the one panting maybe you should go take a break," Robin panted out with a smile that challenged hers. Both of them were equally matched at this point and both knew it as they stared into each other's eyes however unlike before their eyes didn't hold hate but amusement as if they were best friends sparing against one another.

"A break? You don't know what you're talking about."

"Sorry you're right, you girls like to call them tea parties," Robin retorted as he quickly deflected a small knife that Bonnie flung at him for that comment that only made Robin's smile bigger knowing that, that jab got under skin. This brought on another episode of the deadly stalemate between them.

"Bonnie …what…are you…waiting for stop toying…with him and m…make the…kill!" Both children heard from bellow them causing them to stop their fun to look down to see that Batman had already restrained Harley and now had the Joker by the neck as the clown themed man struggled under the iron grip of Batman. Batman noticing he had Robin's attention gave him the signal that they were done here and that the police were already on their way to pick up their evil family of clowns. Before Robin could react to this signal Bonnie caught him off guard and managed to kick Robin's legs from underneath him causing his sword to fly of the crate pile they were standing on. Bonnie first instinct was to cut his throat and then go for the quick kill and cut his femoral artery, but as she raised her knives to do just that she stopped as she caught the gaze of Robin, and although she couldn't see his eyes because of his mask, but she could picture the expression in them. They were daring her to prove him right that she was just as senseless and deranged as her father. As her father yelled at her to make the kill for once in her life she didn't want to make a decision solely based on achieving her father's approval and become another copy of him. She wanted to make this decision on whether to kill him on her own, and right now as she looked into the eyes of the boy she had just bonded with while flinging deadly weapons at each other she knew she didn't have it in her to kill a living human being, much less one so close to her age and so amusing to her.

Robin smiled up at her genially when he sense that there was no way she could bring herself to make the kill; the very action won her brownie points in his mind as he knew he could no longer regard her in the same category as her father. The sight of Robin's smile froze the clown costumed girl as it invoked a weird sensation in her. Robin took this moment to grab his graveling hook to make his getaway, but as he jumped off the crate he brushed against her on his way past her. Batman handed his sidekick back his sword after turning off Joker's evil machine. Batman couldn't help but ponder over the strange events that had occurred between his sidekick and Joker's. He couldn't help but smile as he could see that the Joker had another failed sidekick, even though he may have raised her he couldn't change the fact that the young girl had a heart, Batman thought as him and his sidekick stepped into their bat-jet and flew away.

"What was that all about?" Batman asked calmly as he maneuvered the bat-jet that was zooming over Gotham.

"What do you mean father?" Robin inquired as he fringed innocence in hopes that his father would drop the subject, but as he watched his father give him a look that told him that nothing could get passed the all-seeing bat eyes Damien knew he had to at least say something to satisfy his father's question.

"She's different than I expected, she isn't like the mindless drones that Joker use to get as his sidekicks. And she's the first person ever that I can truly say is a formidable opponent."

"Although those are high compliments coming from you, that couldn't have been the only thing that happened up there on those crates," Bruce asked with a sly smile on his face that made his son squirm with confusion of what his father could possibly be hinting at.

"Stop being ridiculous father would I ever tell you a lie?"

"Yes all teenagers tell lies to their parents, I would wonder what was wrong with the child if he didn't every now and then," Bruce said with a smile as he saw his son start to pout with the very taught his father didn't trust him enough to believe his description of what went down tonight. "Cheer up Damien…anyway I would sure like to find out about that child that the Joker claims Harley gave birth to."

"As do I father," Damien agreed as they flew through the night sky with only one destination and that was home.

"What was that you blasted child!" Joker demanded with a derange fire in his expression as he stormed toward his daughter that had made her way down to the ground. The Joker grabbed her roughly in rage as he slung her into the car that they came in. A loud bang resounded in the air as Joker's daughter lay dizzily against the car that now had a dent in it as blood drizzled down her face from her wounded head. "You insufferable, stupid, ungrateful, shameful little girl! How hard was it to simply kill the boy you had him right where you wanted him!" Joker yelled at her as he paced back and forward in front of her, balling up his fists as he tried to restrain himself from killing the girl on the spot. "I should kill you for your disobedience…but then again people tend to learn more when tortured and abused isn't that ri-"

"Puddin!"

"What is it Harley can't you see I'm trying to discipline our daughter?!"

"Puddin, we can do that when we get home cause here come the coppers!" Harley exclaimed as she could see the flashing lights and hear the sirens.

"Fine, get your daughter into the car!" Joker ordered. They managed to narrowly escape the police as they drove back to their circus hideout slash home, but to Tarrin as she faced her punishment bravely for her disobedience her idea of home was filled with pain, abuse, and the blood freezing screams of a helpless young girl.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

It felt like hours before she felt her father chuck her into her room, after spending hours facing every torture that her father could throw at her from being tied up and dipped under water to beatings with a crowbar and being electrocuted. The young girl could barely move towards her bed in front of her not with her every fiber of her being radiating excruciating pain. So she settled on removing her once white blanket that was now dirty and worn over the years that barely covered her blood drenched, cut up body. A normal child would have protested sleeping on the ice cold floor with pain less intense than a broken limb especially without a dinner, but this was a luxury Tarrin didn't have for any complaint, voiced to her parents won't only fall on deaf ears but also invoke more punishment. Plus Tarrin welcomed the coldness of the floor that helped dull the aching pain spreading throughout her body, and for the pain and hunger she couldn't even feel it after sometime as her numb body drifted off into a deep unconsciousness.

"Father what are you doing?" Damien inquired as he watched his father still in his Bat suit hours after they had gotten home, staring into a microscope glass after mixing chemicals together.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Bruce replied without taking his eyes off his work. Damien sighed as he rolled his eyes convinced if he had redecorated the bat cave by rearranging all Bruce's souvenirs he would never notice the difference. It shocked Damien sometimes how oblivious his father could be despite him being the world's greatest detective.

"I came down to see if I could help yo-"

"I don't need any, I'm making up a serum to Joker's laughing gas, so go to sleep before Alfred catches you up at two clock despite you having to wake up at six for home schooling," Bruce interrupted in a commanding voice that cut into Damien like a sword, causing anger to flare up in the teenage boy who absolutely hated being treated as a child. It made sense when he was shorter at the age of ten, but now that he was at least as tall as Bruce's shoulders not to mention fifteen he figured his father would at least treat him as his equal like he does to Tim Drake. Damien clenched his teeth to prevent the world wind of protest that would have come out of his mouth; for he had what he really came down to the cave for.

"Fine," was all he could manage as the boy stormed out of the bat cave leaving a stressed out Bruce behind him who knew that if Alfred had witnessed the scene he would have given Bruce a zero in the parental department. Knowing this caused Bruce to sigh knowing that he would have to do something to redeem himself later, he thought as he continued to busily work on a cure for Joker's intoxicating gas.

Once Damien was safely in his room he took off his pajamas and quickly changed into the Robin suit he snuck out the bat cave. _Ignore me will you? That was a big mistake. _Damien thought to himself with a smirk on his face as he opened his windows to sneak out. Damien froze when he heard his Great Dane bark, which Damien concluded was his dog's attempt of asking where he was going.

"Don't worry boy, I'm just going out to do some detective work as father would call it," Damien spoke as he patted the giant black dog before grinning with satisfaction as he whipped out his Robin communicator to see a map appear on it that would lead him to a red dot indicating to him that the tracking device he planted was still working and attached to its host. With one more glance at his dog that was now stretched across the dummy he had sleeping in his place he smiled with anticipation on how his night of playing detective was going to go down.

The map on his communicator led him across town to an old abandoned amusement park, which didn't surprise him after all where else would a lunatic clown on Gotham's most wanted list try to raise a family? With that notion he climbed over the rusting gates of the amusement park and started to wonder around the amusement park to find his target, while being careful of any booby traps that the Joker may have made to keep certain people like him away from his hideout. Damien was thankful when he came across a small window on a funhouse that was covered by a long patch of untrimmed grass where his communicator was indicating where the person he had place the tracking device on was. He pulled the grass away from the window to see a room that only had a bed in it and a few stuffed animals and clothes scattered across the floor, but most importantly he saw no sign of the Joker, Harley, their pets, or the Joker's goons just their daughter named Bonnie Doll a sleep on the floor.

He snuck in by squeezing himself through the window he knew would've been a piece of cake up until two years ago when he started to hit his growth spurts. At one time he was over joyed with his new height, but at this presence day as he reflected on how much pain it took to get himself through that window he cursing his long legs and his filled out frame. He perched himself comfortably on Bonnie 's empty bed while taking another glance of the room to realize how tiny it was to the point that the room barely fit both teenagers in it. He also noticed how much the room wasn't really fit for anyone to live in let alone a girl near his age, not with the fact that the walls where greening with mold and the damp rotting wood that the Joker's daughter was sleeping on. _Why isn't she sleeping on her bed?_ He wondered as he got of her bed with a back flip over her sleeping body to land silently in front of her sleeping body. The bed was dusty and just as unsanitary as the rest of the room, but to Damien the bed had to be a billion times better than sleeping on the floor, which was going through his head as he bent down to get a better look at the girl. The sight of the dried up bloody girl with blacking bruises broke Damien usual poker face as it sickened him to the extent that the clown go to abusing his daughter, not that it surprised him after all this was the Joker in question. The very sight caused an unexplainable anger and sense of sympathy for the girl, but before he could try to comprehend these strange feelings the girl who he was standing over eyes fluttered open. Damien narrowly dodged a punch from the girl who slowly got to her feet to stare him down with ice cold green eyes that pierced Damien very being although he didn't let it register on his face.

"What in the bloody world are you doing here? Is it to finish me off, I won't show mercy this time," Bonnie whispered with a deadly hiss as she reached for under the bed to reveal her butcher's knives. Damien couldn't help swear under his breath knowing the last thing he needed was to get into a fight with her and get her insane parents involved, but as he stared into her ice cold eyes he knew there was no reasoning with her in this state. _Great if I don't die by the hands of the Joker, I am sure as hell going to die by my father's, _Damien thought as he grabbed his sword, causing them to pick up their fight from where they left off near Gotham Harbor hours ago.

"You must really have a death wish don't you?" Bonnie more or less stated as she swung her knives at Damien this time to his lucky stars with zero precision and swiftness.

"You're not implying that you could finish me off in your current state are you?" Damien teased as he blocked another one of her attacks causing her face to redden a darker shade of red with every blocked attack. Damien couldn't help but think that her current state of fury was cute, even though she looked ready to maim him the second she got her hands on him.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Bonnie demanded with venom licking at her words as she felt a wave of emotions crashing through her as she tried to comprehend why the sidekick of her father's archenemy had come here to kill her after she showed him mercy and now was toying with her even know she knew he could finish her off in a heartbeat.

"I mean you're not putting up that much of a fight," Robin answered back with a nonchalant tone used to tease her as Damien found himself completely amused with her anger. However, that was Damien's last straw as Bonnie saw his playful teasing no longer as charming as she found it during their fight earlier that night, no now she found it as a means to look down on her.

"Why don't you just die you f-" She was interrupted by a pair of footsteps that froze both teens in mid battle. Both of them shared a meaningful look before Damien threw her on the bed and rolled underneath her bed seconds before the Joker opened the door to her room. The sight that he saw of his daughter sprawled across her bed asleep and her room void of anyone in it he muttered to himself about hearing things again and closed the door shut before heading back to his room that he shared with Harley. The teenagers stayed in their positions for a good thirty minutes to ensure they were really in the clear.

"Again, Boy Wonder why are you here?" Bonnie asked with an amused smirk as Damien flung a dead rat off his shoulder as he dusted himself off after crawling out from underneath her bed. For some reason the combination of him saving her having to deal with her father's disappointment of not being able to get rid of the boy that was now perched comfortably on her bed and her growing suspicion this strange boy she had met for the first time tonight wasn't trying to kill her caused her earlier rage to simmer.

"Obviously because of your sweet personality, Miss. I-love-to-play-with-knives," Damien teased as he flashed a mischievous smile, which caused her to roll her eyes knowing that he was clearly asking for an apology for attacking him before he could explain why he snuck into enemy territory.

"Really are you always this annoying?"

"That depends are you always this annoyed?"

"Fine you win, Mr. I'm-impossible-to-deal-with," Bonnie surrendered causing a smile of triumph to shine shamelessly on his face that caused Bonnie to wonder if it wasn't too late to maim the annoying boy, but she thought better of it knowing that said boy was the only remotely interesting thing in her bleak world.

"So did the Joker do this to you?"

"What makes you think that I'll answer your questions if you won't answer mine?"

"Well first of all I'm your guest second of all you're the one who surrendered to me."

"First point's a lie you're more of an intruder than a guest," the green haired girl replied as she lay down in front of Robin without her eyes ever leaving Robin's. "My father did do this to me for my insolence tonight."

"Does he always do this to you for failure?"

"Why do you ask? Don't all parents?"

It shocked Robin how much she really believed that this was how all children were treated for disobedience. Even his mother never really resorted to such discipline that would leave him out of commission for at least a month. "Do you really feel that all parents beat their children black and blue along with burning them with what looks like electrical shocks just for disobedience?" Damien questioned as he assessed the means of which the Joker used to punish her with through the types of injuries she had littering every part of her body he could see that wasn't covered by her browning night gown that was due to dried up blood.

"I don't know and frankly I don't care, I knew what I was in for when I decided not to kill you."

"And why did you decide that knowing the consequences in advance?"

"Isn't obvious it was because of your stunning good looks and dazzling charm," she cooed sweetly, causing a weird feeling to bubble up in Damien as he masked it with a bat glare that got Bonnie to flash a fringed apologetic look. "I did it because ever since I could remember I have never done anything based on what I think, and when I was up their fighting I knew I couldn't handle killing you or for anyone in that matter. But if this is what happens to me when I fail to be able to kill like my father am afraid I might have to learn to kill without regret like him."

"Or you can continue to disobey your father but not get caught?"

"What do you mean how can you disobey an order and not get caught?"

"It's quiet easy I was ordered to go to bed yet here I am nowhere near my bed without anyone knowing, and all I have to do to ensure I don't get caught is to sneak back into my room before six."

"So let me get this straight you purposely disobey orders and try not to get caught doing it…that sounds like a fun game. Teach me all the rules."

"Why should I?" Damien asked resuming his difficult personality again that caused a pout to appear on the cute banged up face of the girl staring up at him causing the strange feelings to wash through him again with a stronger force every time to the point Damien wondered how long he could keep it from registering on his face.

"Because I want to learn how to make my own decisions without having to be beaten until the Joker kills me, plus won't it be more fun to disobey the rules together?" Bonnie replied with a pleading puppy dog face, Damien knew that in this situation his father would say no in order to insure the secret identity remains uncompromised and that he doesn't get killed. But something that went against everything both his parents ever taught him provoked him to give into her plea for help. _Well if I'm agreeing to teach this girl how to break the rules might as well lead by example, _Damien thought knowing that when this was all over and his father found out about him fraternizing with the enemy he was going to lose his patrolling privileges to Tim for at very least a month.

"With that done, I should probably get back home, Bonnie Doll," Damien stated as he got up in order to climb out the window he came into.

"When will I see you again? And can you call me Tarry? That's my real name," Bonnie asked after helping the boy through her window. With a hard glance at her cuts and bruises he knew he couldn't take her out to show her what life was really like looking like someone who was a victim of attempt murder.

"Sure Tarry, anyway I know this may sound long but you need to heal and gather your strength back up, so our next meeting will be in a month. Try to stay on the Joker's good side until then Troublemaker," Damien answered with a wicked smile on his face he saw her pout with protests on the tip of her tongue that got tongue-tied when she saw his smile before he vanished into what was left of the darkness of the night.

"Right back at you Boy Wonder," Tarry whispered as she stared out her window with a grin knowing that her bleak dark world for the first time had a light that may pave a way to a new world, one that she could bare.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Since their meeting both teens have been on their best behaviors, well more like slightly better than their normal behaviors after all they didn't want to give their parental figures any reason to suspect them of doing something wrong. Damien passed his days in waiting for his next meeting with Tarry with school work and night-time patrols with his father, in which, they often defeat the Joker's plans, and each time Damien expected to see Tarry in her funny looking costume but each time she was missing. Tarry spent her days resting in her room healing as she was confined to her room as part of her punishment.

When the awaited day for the teens next meeting came along Damien saw himself face with two problems the fact that his father was planning on taking him on a long patrol that night and even if he did manage to wiggle his way out of patrol there was no he would be able to wear his Robin suit especially if his father was patrolling every inch of Gotham that night. First thing he had to deal with was his problem of getting out of patrolling with his father without alerting his father's suspicion. Damien knew he couldn't confront his father about his desire to miss patrol but he knew who could do it for him, he thought as he walked towards the Wayne Manor's butler Alfred Pennyworth.

"Good morning Master Damien, what seems to be the matter?" the old man inquired while putting down his duster in order to give the young teenager his full and undivided attention.

"Why do you assume there's something wrong?"

"Because you just spent the last twenty minutes seating on the stair case in deep thought, and I trust that I have made the right assumption that it has nothing to do with the calculus assignment I left on your table this morning?"

"Yes…Alfred can you help me with something?" Damien inquired tactfully as he prayed that his plan would be successful. When Alfred looked at him with curiosity to find out how he could possibly help a child he always thought was self-dependent to point that he rather chew off his own arm before asking for help.

"Can you convince father not to take me on patrol today because I have a big calculus test tomorrow?"

"Damien I don't remember assigning a huge calculus test for tomorrow, and I should most certainly know I'm the teacher," Alfred inquired with a raised eyebrow at the boy that told Damien that he wanted the real truth why he didn't want to go on patrol with his father. "This doesn't have anything to do with a fight does it?"

"No Alfred, it has something to do with a girl I met a couple of weeks ago during our recognizance mission. While I was waiting for father to finish integrating a couple of mob bosses after pretending we were normal civilians I met a girl and we talked. I promised that I would meet with her today," Damien confessed with fringed desperation in his face that shocked Alfred for not only did Damien confess that he was interested in a girl but also he confessed it to him so easily which was very not like Damien's character at all.

"Damien why don't you confess this to Master Bruce, I'm sure he'll-"

"Understand? Seriously Alfred, you know him if I told him that I was going to meet a girl rather than go patrolling with him he's going to spy on us, and ruin everything."

"I'm sure your father wouldn't get caught spying on you two-"

"Not the point," Damien broken in with annoyance that grudgingly persuaded the old butler into seeing things Damien's way. Alfred knew very well if Bruce knew about Damien having a crush on a girl he met on the streets nothing in the world could stop Bruce from sticking his noise into their affairs to find out everything about this mystery girl that has captured a thing that Alfred once thought was nonexistent; Damien's heart.

"Fine I will play along with your plan, if you answer whether this girl is safe or not?"

"You mean will she kill me? Yeah we already explored that possibility and she wouldn't harm anyone, cats maybe but not a person," Damien replied as he remembered coming across two dead cats where she had revealed herself from the shadows to attack him. Alfred just stared at him for a second and chose to let this piece of information slide, after all, he wanted Damien to be happy and if this girl had the power to do that Alfred didn't want to stand in their way. Plus this was Damien we were talking about anyone who could captivate his interest couldn't be normal, as long as he was sure that the girl would not bring him any harm Alfred was game for the plan.

Damien couldn't help but grin in satisfaction as he watched Alfred walking towards the bat cave to tell his father the news of his surprise test. Everything seemed to be going his way, Damien thought as he headed upstairs to finish up his calculus sheet and figure out what he was going to wear tonight.

* * *

On the other side of Gotham Tarry had less trouble in assuring that her parents wouldn't find out about her secret meeting with both Harley and Joker gearing up to make a huge bank heist.

"You know Puddin, it's been a month, don't you think that it's about time to unground Bonnie and let her help us with the bank heist?" Harley asked as she put on the finishing touches of her clown make up.

"No, she will remain in her room until I can trust that she won't freeze up before making a kill and that she doesn't have feelings for Bird Boy," Joker spat out as he got into the clown car fully ready to paint Gotham red that night. Harley with a pout hopped in after him as she yelled out to her daughter to not to expect them back home that night. Once Tarry could no longer hear the car engine she walked into her bathroom in front of her room. _I guess that takes care of my parents, now all I have to do is make sure I'm ready for my meeting with Robin,_ she thought as she looked at the broken remains of the mirror in her bathroom to see that all her wounds she received from her father a month ago were nothing more than a faint memory now. What really caught her attention was her green hair. She knew she had to do something with it to ensure that she doesn't stick out like a sore thumb or worse have her parents recognize her if they bump into them by chance. Tarry paced the length of the bathroom flitting with her hair in hopes to figure out how to change it back to its original color. After about an hour she remembered her mother telling her father years ago when they dyed her hair green that it would wash out if she got her hair washed, which made sense to her as she realized that was the reason her mother never washed her hair. This caused the young girl to toss off her dirty night gown and hop into the bath tub where she scrubbed her hair for an hour until she could no longer see green hair dye being washed off her hair. She knew as she got out of the tub that she couldn't wear any of her clothes that were usually never cleaned by either of her parents, but she knew how to fix that problem. A huge smile appeared on her face when she snuck into her parents' room avoiding all the obvious booby traps that littered the floor. She ended up stealing a pair of jean shorts and a black hoody that she wore quickly as she noticed the night approaching fast meaning Robin would soon be perched in her room like she found him the first night he came to visit. When the girl had fixed herself up she looked at herself in the mirror with a satisfied smile as she saw a girl who had no connections to the Joker with her long black hair and normal clothes no one would know that she was the Joker's daughter.

* * *

"Ok, I guess I'm going in civilian clothes for this mission," Damien murmured to his dog as he took out a pair of black jeans, a black hoody that was a couple of sizes too big for him, and a pair of sunglasses to finish off his disguise as a normal boy who didn't have Batman as a father. Damien froze as he heard a knock on his door causing him to throw his clothes underneath his bed before his father could open the door to be greeted with the sight of his son studying for the math test that Alfred had told him about.

"Hello son, it has come to my attention that you have a math examination tomorrow, and since I wouldn't be a good parent if I didn't take your education primarily over your night job, so you will not be going on patrol tonight," Bruce said stepping into the boy's room just to have their dog come up to him for him to pet it.

"You know I could still go on patrol and ace Alfred's test," Damien grunted out with fake anger as he glared at his father who merely glared right back down at him.

"This isn't up for debate, you're staying here to study," Bruce ordered his son as he walked out his room before Damien could protest. Damien couldn't help but smile at the situation as he got changed and headed out into the night. He should've thought of sneaking out to spite his father years ago, he thought as he took out his baby from the garage that revealed a black MV-Augusta F4CC motorcycle. He loved the bike more than anything and only took it out on special occasions, and somehow going to meet the girl who was the only person to have ever come closer than his mother's assassins to killing him felt special.

* * *

As the seconds ticked away Tarry paced the length of her room with turmoil of nervousness, anticipation, and another emotion that she couldn't quite identify all she knew was that the emotion was linked to Robin. By this time the moon was high in the sky like the night that she first saw the boy in her room, which was the same night she had the dream that has always hunted her on the nights that she gets punished by her father. The blood, which came out of those sessions usually trigger a scene of blood dripping down her forehead while she stared up into the petrified lifeless eyes of a woman. There were only two voices she always hears her father's laughter and the deep voice of a man. There were times that Tarry really did wish it was a dream, but it felt so real each and every time it appeared in her head and it was always the same story with no deviations…

'_Tap, tap,"_ She was awoken from her reflections of the night that she met Robin, to see a boy who looked like Robin; however, he was lacking a certain red, black, and yellow suit that made him Robin to her.

"Sorry I don't think I know you," Tarry greeted as she took hold of the out stretched hand of the boy standing outside her house.

"The same could be said about you as well," Damien commented as he ran his hands through a few strands of her long black hair that was tied in a high ponytail. Damien made a mental note to pay extra attention to his facial expression he thought as he struggled back a blush after realizing just how pretty she looked without the clown makeup, the injuries that had once littered her entire body, and the ugly green hair.

"So what do I call now that you aren't in your Robin suit?"

"Still call me Robin, anyway we better get going if we want to make this time last," he suggested as he took hold of Tarry's hand to guide her towards the motorcycle he had parked a couple blocks away to ensure his baby didn't get stolen, by parking it in a sketchy neighborhood and because he rather have not brought the noise thing in front of the Joker's hideout in case he was still there.

Damien led the girl to where he parked his bike right in front of a police department. The very sight of it put a smile on Tarry's face as she could only imagine how fun it would be to be able to drive let alone drive a motorbike. "What do you need a cordial invitation to get on?" Damien questioned after waiting for a couple of minutes for her to break out of her trance and to grab the helmet he was holding out to her and hop on.

"Are you sure?" Tarry asked while taking the helmet from him.

"What are you scared?" Damien replied back with a wicked smile on his face that showed his amusement of the notion of her being more scared of his bike than her father.

"In your dreams," Tarry retorted as she sat behind him and grabbed his waist as he started up the vehicle. As the wind ripped through her hair and her clothes, Tarry felt herself hold on tighter to Damien's waist as fear of falling off the bike gripped her heart. But all that fluttered away when she place her head comfortably on Damien's back, the strength she felt in his built physic put her at ease with the notion that any danger they faced tonight whether it was her parents or his boss she knew that she found an ally who she could face the world with. However, Damien on the other hand wasn't feeling as calm as Tarry, actually this was the first time in his life he has ever felt so nervous. Not only was he feeling nervous it was increased with the fluttery feeling in his stomach that always occurs when Tarry was around, but as he drove towards their first destination he could barely feel anything but the girl strapped securely to his back and the burning blush scorching his face red.

Their first destination had the two teens parked in front of a restaurant that dazzled Tarry as she looked at the brightly lit up sign over the restaurant that read MacHappy in huge yellow letters on a red backboard.

"I hope you're hungry," Damien stated as he helped her off his motorbike.

"Starved literary," Tarry replied as she recalled that the last time her parents remembered to feed her was a week ago after they went to eat at Penguin's restaurant after a successful bank heist. Although the young girl was use to not eating regularly when both teens walked in Tarry couldn't help but feel the lurching hunger pains as her stomach backed her up on her starvation comment.

"You don't get fed daily do you?" Damien asked; however, it was more like a statement that Tarry answered with an uneasy smile as she held her stomach in vain to get it to stop embarrassing her with its loud protests of being denied food for so long.

As they moved closer to the cashier to order and pay for their food, Damien couldn't help but feel glad that he decided to bring her to eat first rather then at he end of the time they had together. Even though it was the Joker in question Damien couldn't fathom why Joker would starve his own daughter, after all, Harley never looked under fed, but the Boy Wonder soon put his thoughts away as he saw the person in front of them leave the cashier with his food.

"Hey may I take your order," the cahier asked boredly at least until she looked up to see the young fifteen year old boy, who caused her to flash a sensual look at him.

"Two MacHappy meals," Damien answered ignoring the girl's flirty looks towards him, but when he noticed Tarry's hand tighten in his he looked down to see the young girl who was probably two years younger than the cashier girl glaring at her with what Damien could only deduce as jealousy.

"Would you like anything else with that order," the girl behind the counter asked as she leaned slightly towards Damien fully ignoring the murderous glares coming from the little girl beside him.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure it's on the menu," Damien answered with a suggestive tone that made the girl behind the counter bright red like her red hair. This caused Tarry to pull the boy away from the counter as he placed enough money to pay for the meals and tip the girl working the counter very well. "Hey why the long face?" Damien teased as he tried to contain his laughter while Tarry dragged them towards a two person table next to the glass wall at the front of the restaurant.

"Did you have to flirt back?"

"Is that jealousy I hear?" Damien asked just to receive a painful kick to his knee as the girl looked away from him with a pout, thoroughly pissed off at his teasing this time. "I don't know why you're so mad the girl isn't even my type."

"Then why were you flirting back?"

"To successfully get under your skin," Damien replied nonchalantly just to have Tarry stick out her tongue at him as she turned around to show that she was no longer upset after all she has gotten use to Robin's sometimes charming and mostly difficult attitude.

"Well now that you've successfully gotten under my skin, what's next?"

"We eat," Damien replied as he saw the red haired girl bringing a tray over to their table with a flirty look about her that made both teens roll their eyes, Tarry visibly and Damien mentally.

"Here is your order, and here is something extra for when you want to get what you couldn't get off the menu," the red headed waitress said as she placed the tray full of food in front of the teens while winking at Damien as she passed him a slip of paper. Damien with boredom opened the paper to see that girl's name was Kathy and her phone number.

"Thank you for the meals, unfortunately I don't think this paper can get me what I wanted that wasn't on the menu," Damien replied with fringed politeness as he handed the girl back the slip of paper. Tarry couldn't help but smile as she saw the girl storm off in a huff of embarrassment and anger.

"What did you want extra with your meal then?" Tarry asked as she unwrapped the food in front of her.

"That's secret, anyway eat up," Damien answered as he flashed a mischievous smile at her as she pouted at his answer. When the young noirette saw what was contained in her wrapper Damien raised his eyebrow in curiosity to see her examining the hamburger that came with her meal as if it was something foreign. "You eat it like this," Damien directed as he unwrapped his burger and took a bite out of it. With hesitation the Joker's daughter followed his actions just to be thoroughly surprised at how good it tasted. As Tarry devoured the burger quickly she couldn't get over that she was actually eating a meal that didn't make her want to puke afterwards since her parents always brought home the food they didn't like at restaurants or bits and pieces of food they found on the carnival grounds that they lived on. Once the girl finished her burger she moved onto her French fries, which she finished just as quick, in the time it took Damien to get half through his burger which amazed him.

"Do you always eat like sugar high speedster?" Damien asked with a smirk that caused the young girl to blush bright red as she backed away from her finished meal sheepishly at the thought that she let her hunger get the better of her, but all that changed when Damien slide his box of French fries towards her causing her stomach to growl a little in want of more food.

"Sorry for eating most of your dinner as well, that was probably the best meal I ever had," Tarry stated as she finished off the last of Damien's fries.

"Well it can't be helped if you're a little pig when it comes to food," Damien teased to cause his favorite expression to appear on her face as her face turned red with both anger and embarrassment that he would even say such a thing when he knew that this was probably her first meal this week. This little comment caused the two teens to breakout into a fight with Tarry trying to deliver a blow to teach Damien a lesson and the Boy Wonder dodging each blow barely indicating to him that she was fully healed which pleased him, but he was going to miss being able to tease her without her being able to fight back.

"Hey I was just kidding," Damien snickered out as each blow he either blocked or dodged caused more amusement to appear on his face as he could tell that he was back under her skin.

"Don't think that excuse is going to get you off scot free," Tarry retorted with equal amusement as she tried harder to catch the skilled boy off guard.

"Excuse me can you two grow up, your disturbing the other…" the waitress named Kathy yelled over to them before stopping dead in her complaint to get the two teens at the front of the restaurant to shut up. This caused both kids to stop as they directed their attention to where the red-headed waitress was staring dumbly in, to have shock register on both their faces as Damien grabbed the young girl and threw both himself and her to the side out of the path of a speeding purple clown car as it came bursting through the window where they were just sitting at.

"Are you ok?" Damien demanded as glass rained upon them from the impact of what Damien was guessing was the Joker's car colliding with the front of the restaurant that consisted almost entirely of a glass window. When Tarry nodded Damien was up in seconds staring at the havoc of the people in the restaurant running around like chickens with their heads chopped off. They were blinded with terror that many were running around in circles in too much of a panic to find the nearest exist. "Good because here's your chance to go against your father and help me get these people out of here," Damien stated as he ran off to start to direct people out of the restaurant. For seconds all the young girl could do was stare at the terror happening around her until she saw her father and mother step out of the car in a daze. If she was going to make something out of this night she was going to have to act fast before she was recognized by her parents, she thought as she ran into the chaos and followed what Damien was doing to direct people out of the restaurant.

"Puddin are you alright?" Harley asked frantically as she attempted to give the Joker the kiss of life to snap him out of his daze. When Harley was seconds away from kissing him he snapped out of it and shoved her off him.

"I would be better if you got your head in the game," Joker yelled at her as he pointed at Batman and Red Robin walking into the restaurant.

"Nice parking job Joker," Red Robin teased as he made an amazed whistle while looking at the damage Joker's car made. The sight of the two mask figures caused both Joker and Harley to whip out their guns to start firing at them, but like last time the crime fighters effortlessly were able to dodge each bullet. Before either of the clown criminals knew what hit them they both had their guns knocked out of their hands one by a kick from Red Robin and the other one by a baterang thrown by Batman. While Harley and Red Robin went at each other hand to hand Joker caught a glimpse of a young girl at the exist a few meters away from him ushering out an old couple, which caused a derange smile to appear on his evil face as he sucker punched batman leaving him with enough of a distraction to scoop up the girl and the gun he had dropped.

The very sight caused everyone left in the restaurant to stop dead in their tracks especially Damien who stared wide eyed as he saw the girl who held a great deal of his interest with a gun cocked at her head by a crazed clown that wouldn't think twice before pulling that trigger. Knowing this caused uncontrollable rage to burn through Damien as he tried to figure out what to do with the possibility both his father and his foster brother may notice who he was.

"Now I suggest both you and bird-brains over there leave before this girl gets it," Joker cackled as he saw Batman take a step back as the girl squirmed around in her father's grasp knowing quit well that she could get out of his hold on a regular bases, but tonight she was just an average teenage girl who has never taken down an army of her father's cronies bare handed, because if she did use any moves on her father, she risked him recognizing one of them, which meant her life would literally be over.

"What's the matter Joker? Have you lowered yourself to picking on cute little girls because your too chicken to handle us on your own?" Red Robin mocked to distract the Joker, which caused him to turn his attention towards the red and black costumed older teenager and start to fire at him with rapidly in hopes of killing yet another bird. While the Joker focused on killing Red Robin, Batman snuck up behind the Joker and delivered a swift blow to his neck that caused the Joker to instantly blank out. Before Batman could catch the girl that the Joker took as a hostage Damien swooped in the nick of time and carried her out of the restaurant; however not before making eye contact with his father that left Bruce speechless as he wondered if the boy he had just saw was really his son. Although Bruce couldn't get a good look at the teen's eyes because of his sunglasses or his hair because the kid had his hood up, but some familiarity had clicked in his head…now that he thought about it the girl that the kid ran away with looked familiar as well; however the detective couldn't place a name on her or identify the place he had saw her from.

"Red Robin, we're done here," Batman ordered as Tim Drake finished tying and hand cupping both crazed clowns. The mask heroes disappeared from the crime scene just as the police arrived to slip away into the night in the bat mobile. All throughout the trip Bruce was dead silent as he turned the image of the boy and the girl over and over in his head.

"What's up Bruce, ever since you save that girl you've looked like you saw a ghost or something?"

"I don't know that boy that took away the girl seemed very familiar to me somehow."

"Really who were you thinking?"

"Damien," Bruce replied just to have his third foster child burst into laughter at the very thought that the boy with that cute girl that he was guessing was probably the kid's girlfriend could possibly be the heartless ruthless little demon.

"Really Bruce think about it, why would Damien skip patrol to let me take over while he sneaks out of the house to date a girl? I mean if this was Dick then maybe but this is the boy who barely even acknowledges anyone else other than you, Dick, and his mother."

"Maybe but stranger things have happened," Bruce answered as he tried to take his attention off the matter after all there was one more area of Gotham that had to be patrolled and when they were done Damien better be upstairs in his room Bruce thought as his sidekick for tonight grunted in disbelief that it was even physically possible for Damien to be interested in girls let alone date one.

* * *

"That was a close one," Tarry sighed as both her and Damien sat on the roof top of the restaurant watching the police guiding both of her parents into the back of a police van to take them to jail. Although she knew it was wrong but she couldn't help but smile a little at the sight of her parents being taken away with the fact that she had a little freedom until they breakout of Arkham.

"Yeah too close for my liking. Sorry it looks like we'll have to head back early today. I think Batman might have recognized me, which means if he heads back early and sees that I'm not there…"

"Game over I got it," Tarry finished as she jumped off the roof of the restaurant, landing with skillful grace. Damien soon followed her and before both teens knew it they were hoping off Damien's bike after he stopped in front of the abandoned circus grounds.

"I guess this is it," Tarry stated shyly as a strange feeling washed over her that made her feel sad that her time with her amusing bird was over so soon.

"For now, I think we can meet up at least once a week to avoid any suspicion," Damien reassured as he too was feeling a little regretful that there time was cut short, but that went away when he saw that the news that they would be meeting up regularly brightened up the young girl's face as if she won the lottery or something. After that it became silent as neither one of the teens knew what came next or who should leave first. As they gazed into each other's eyes a strong urge gripped both teens that caused Damien that was leaning coolly on his bike to lean closer to the girl standing in front of him. Although neither teen knew what this instinct would entail as the distance between them became smaller and smaller, they did knew that they couldn't fight or hide their feelings anymore. Their lips were inches apart before Damien's communicator started to buzz and light up, causing both teens to spring away from each other in surprise.

"Ah…well then…goodnight…Little Piggy," Damien bided farewell with a snicker to hide his embarrassment of what he almost did as he hopped on his bike to speed away before Tarry could get her hands on him and beat him to a bloody pulp for that comment. He couldn't help but laugh a little as he heard her cursing his name, at least until the image of what he almost did to her appeared in his head; this caused his cheeks to burn many shades of red as he wondered what came over him. He has seen Bruce do the same to many girls he had gone out with, even Dick a few times; to his understanding that action towards a female meant that the male had some romantic attraction towards the girl. Damien already acknowledged that he had some attraction to Joker's daughter or he wouldn't have taken her out, but he thought it was simply due to amusement. The almost kiss made him wonder whether his attraction was really just due to amusement or could it be something more, he thought as he sped off into the darkness of the night.

* * *

Once Damien came home he quickly entered his room and changed into his pajamas and fell fast asleep to the point he barely noticed his father come check to make sure he was asleep ten minutes after he arrived. Damien couldn't help but grin slightly when his father closed his door with the notion that he was just better at this cat and mouse game he was playing with his father. To confirm his earlier thoughts his father didn't bring up his suspicions, which pleased him even though he still had to write a calculus test the next day, but at that moment he welcomed it if it would stir his father off his case.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

May 2nd, 2013

Dear Journal,

I can't believe I'm actually writing in a journal, but then again I can't waste a gift from my amusing bird after telling him a week ago that I wish I had some way to document our meetings together. Although he wasn't very thrilled of there even being evidence of our encounters but I'm beginning to see that it's hard for him to refuse my requests.

Anyway back to the matter at hand, ever since our first night on the town we have been meeting regularly with once a week being our default, but now and then we get lucky, due to my parents being in jail or Batman being out-of-town; we are able to see each other more frequently those weeks. It's been a whole month since we started our little game that Robin likes to call cat and mouse with our parents, which means we have had a lot meetings that usually consisted of either Robin showing me a life outside the cramp dirty walls of my room or him coming here to just talk and hangout, which was usually when my parents were out and he knew we couldn't go out because Batman was patrolling the whole of Gotham that night. With all that being said I couldn't possibly write about every encounter only partly because our conversations in this room would probably use up every page in this hundred page journal before I even started with our late nights out in Gotham, so I'll recount only the most memorable encounters for now.

April 5th, 2013

This day marked our second encounter in which he like all the nights before I have seen him arrived when the moon was fully out. Again he wasn't wearing his Robin suit but normal clothes with sunglasses, which is a slight disappointment since I thought his costume wasn't only funny but cute on him but it's for the best that he doesn't stick out from the rest of the teens in Gotham.

"Ready for part two from our earlier encounter?" he asked as he effortlessly lifted me out of my room.

"Part two?"

"Yeah part two; I planned a lot more than just showing you fast food last time." He didn't disappoint that night as we zoomed across town on his bike until we got to a place I could only describe as being magical with the shining lights that lit up the night, the smell of delicious foods, and most importantly the colorful amusing rides that were all over the area near Gotham's docks. Robin called this magical place that seemed too good for even my wildest dreams, a festival. I could barely control my excitement when we gave our tickets to a man that was guarding the entrance that I ran off to being trying all the new wonders before Robin could finish telling me a boring history story about why Gotham had this festival every year.

"You're such a child you know that?" he teased as he looked at the first ride I had chosen with a raised eyebrow that was definitely questioning my sanity although there was a reason my choice of a slow and boring ride like the Merry-Go-Around, I wanted to experience every ride and food possible in this magically land, after all who knew whether we would be able to do this again since neither of us saw our encounters being able to last up to this time next year (I mean the parents had to figure out what was happening sooner or later).

By the time the festival was near closing I was high with excitement and amusement partly because of the sugary food that we ate and the thrill of the more hard-core rides we rode on. We managed to go on every ride at least once, I also ate this weird puffy food that reminded me of a cloud; however, these ones were dyed different colors and tasted so good that just thinking about it again was making me drool, and we ended up competing in the little contests that were held all over the area. Robin ended up winning most of the challenges and then teasing me about it afterwards, but what surprised me was that he ended up giving me the only prize he would accept from the competitions we entered and that was a white stuffed teddy bear that was nearly the size of me.

When the festival people kicked everyone out of the festival grounds for the night we ended up seating on the docks to spend the last couple of hours of our time together getting to know each other while looked out into Gotham Harbor that seems somewhat more beautiful when you know your father isn't trying to pollute it with his homemade laughing gas.

"You said you took me here to talk does that mean you'll share a little about anything in your life when you aren't Robin?"

"Who said there was a part of my life that I'm not Robin? Plus I don't really like talking about myself…not that I don't trust you…it's…"

"I understand you can't trust anyone with that secret especially when I'm so close to your arch-enemy," I stated with a sigh as it became clear that I may never know the boy behind the atlas Robin all because of how different our lives were. This caused an awkward silence that was filled with the festival music that drifted from the closed festival area. After a few minutes a smirk came across his face as he got up and offered his hand towards me, which I sadly took thinking that he was going to announce the end of our meeting for today. But all that changed when he placed his other free hand around my waist and directed for me to put my other hand on his shoulder, and before I knew it we were dancing to the music. With twirls and dips I felt myself smiling more and more even when every now and then he would make a two left feet comment, which also compelled me to continue to step on his feet. The rest of the time we had together was danced away under the starry Gotham sky.

April 23rd, 2013

During this meeting although it was cut short at the end is another meeting with the Boy Wonder that sticks out for me as well because it was the first time I ever saw a movie before. It was a very different experience from watching TV with my parents partly because the TV was the size of a toaster and because the only television my parents ever let me watch was the news to show me their latest schemes and how evil Batman was for ruining them each and every time.

When we arrived at the theater Robin left me to look around as he went to go pay for the tickets and food. To be honest I didn't know what to think about this place, I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that people young and old paid money to watch television with other people; however, as I saw looks of excitement on all of their faces I couldn't help but feel the same way. There have been so many things that Robin had shown me in the past couple of weeks that have made me wonder why so many people had all this freedom to hang out with their friends and families, while I was always confined to the dark and dirty depths of my room…

"I hope you weren't expecting to see a romantic movie?" Robin asked as he came up from behind me, which caused me to break out of my train of thought that was trying to analysis what was wrong with my life. I looked at him with a questioning look that caused him to point to the poster I was standing in front of. It was a poster of two people kissing in a heart-shaped bubble with the words Summer Love underneath it.

"We aren't? But that's the one I wanted to see," I answered sarcastically with a fake pout.

"Maybe next time, I got us tickets to see that movie," He said as he directed my attention to the highest poster on the wall that had a bunch of ninjas fighting with the title being Ninja Wars. I smiled in anticipation knowing that this movie fit both of us way better than a boring love film partly because it wouldn't have blood, weapons, or explosions and also because that movie would probably indicate that we had that kind of relationship. Although I had no idea what kind of relationship we had, but I did know that it was nothing like my parents'.

The movie ended up being everything I thought it would be and more with skillful fighters, a truck load of blood, every weapon imaginable, and to top it all off it had a few explosions. "I take it that you liked the movie," Robin questioned after hearing me talk none stop about it once we left the movie theaters. All I could do was nod my head as I tried to contain my excitement. "You're acting like a child, it's cute."

I felt my face lit on fire when I heard that partly because I was shocked after all this was the first time he ever officially complimented me instead of trying to annoy the heck out of me with insults; as well it also caused a strange emotion I always felt when he was around.

"You do realize you look like a beat right?" he snickered as if to retract his earlier comment and replaced it with one that left me fuming and caused another one of our little fights.

It wasn't long before we were on to our next activity which involved what my father would say painting a smile on the faces of the people of Gotham. Since I already broke the rules by helping those people out of the restaurant during our first meeting it was Robin's turn. He made it evident that he wasn't pleased with lowering himself to Joker's level but this was just another request he couldn't deny me. Even though he didn't like it that didn't stop him from cracking a smile when we dumped some water balloons on some policemen, which sort of cut our time short since we had to spend the rest of the time trying to get away from them and make sure that we didn't get caught by the Batman…

* * *

Tarry was interrupted from reliving some of her happiest moments when she heard footsteps heading towards her door. She inwardly smiled knowing that after hanging out with Robin for so long he had rubbed off on her a little as she quickly slide her journal underneath her bed and pretended she was a sleep all before the Joker could barge into her room.

His entrance made her eyes flicker open with the notion that this wasn't just a visit to ensure that she was still in her room serving her punishment. The sight she saw was the Joker completely covered with blood, maniacal smile, and a sadistic look in his eyes. Tarry's eyes widen in fear and terror knowing quit well what was coming next as her father inched closer towards her slowly as his laughter begun to feel the air. He must have had a really bad run in with the Batman today to come home in this type of mood, and with her mother still in jail there was no one else to take his evil crazed frustrations out on except for her. Tarry never knew when it started but ever since she could remember she had always been weak and defenseless against her father, there was just something about his laughter that paralyzed her and made her bend to his will. He was the only one who could hurt her, the only one who could get away with dragging her down the stairs towards what she called his torture chamber.

Excoriating grunts of agony, the splatter of blood, sounds of bones cracking, and his malicious laughter reigned supreme over everything Tarry could remember as she was thrown back into her room with such a force that she flew across the room only to have her broken body smash into the wall leaving a dent in it before she limply fell onto her bed. She could hardly believe this was what her mother had to go through every time her father decided to drink away his sorrows and fall deeper into the spirit of derange insanity that resided in him. No matter how great her failure or how much she displeased her parents she has never went through something like this that left her literally paralyzed with pain to the point that felt like she was trapped within her own body as she struggled to keep the only thing that proofed to her that she was still alive and that was her consciousness.

As she laid there on her bed on the edge of death she couldn't help but stare at her window with swollen blacking eyes; it was the only thing that was driving her to fight for her flitting life. Ever since this time a month ago, she has always regard that window as sort of like a portal to another world; a world where she was free, where she didn't have to pretend to be a clown named Bonnie Doll who was trained ever since she could remember to play deadly pranks on Gotham and destroy anyone who got in her way. But out there she had learned that there was so much more to life than this small dirty box of a room her parents raised her in. There was a world outside that she could just be Tarrin, a girl who didn't get abused every day of her life and was actually happy for once in her life. In her mind Robin was her key between her two worlds, and like a bird he was free to fly anywhere, even between her two worlds. She found that the more time she spent with him the more she wished that she could leave through that window with him and never come back. As her body froze with a crippling pain that radiated through her very being every moment that went by was a battle against the darkness that was trying to overpower her senses. It was a battle that she was losing badly as she felt her sore and swollen eyelids become heavier and more unbearably painful to force to remain open. It wasn't long before the abused girl blacked out into a world that was filled with the images that usually taunted her on nights like this one. From what she could understand it was due to the sound of her father's terrifying laughter and blood splattering everywhere that brought on the vision of staring up into lifeless eyes as blood dripped onto her, the crazed laughter of the Joker, and the weak mummer of a man she could never see.

* * *

As the moon shone higher in the sky indicating it was around the middle of the night in Gotham City a soft tap filled the air within Tarry's room that usually brought a smile to Tarry's face for this noise acted as a shining beckon of hope in her small bleak world that was always there for her. When Robin saw a figure lying on the bed he let himself in with the thought of surprising her after all he had a second sneak out that week with Bruce having to go up to the JL Tower for some time. The sight that he came across when he landed gracefully inches away from her on her bed shocked him to the point it was very visible on his face as he stared upon the aftermath of Joker's destruction. Every inch of her body was covered with deep cuts as she twitched in agony and torment in a bright poodle of blood that surrounded her.

Damien had to use every ounce of patience he has gained by working with his father in order to keep himself from tearing up Joker's hide out to make him suffer a long and agonizing death. As Damien gazed upon the suffering girl that could only be compared to a small wounded animal in his mind he had to push any lingering thoughts of placing his judgment on her so called father for now as he attempted to awake her. After shaking her a couple of times her eyes flashed open in shock as her hand shot up suddenly in reflex and took a grip of Damien's throat.

"C-c-lam down…Tarry it-it's me…Robin…" he croaked out as he stared down into a pair of green eyes that were glazed over in a flood of anguish. It took several seconds of coaxing and reassuring words from him that promised her that everything was going to be alright. "Why did he do this to you?" Damien demanded as he rubbed his neck slightly in order to sooth the stinging pain from almost being strangled to death.

"T-the Joker…is sort of…a violent drunk," Tarry gasped out as the excoriating pain that rumbled through her before she blacked out came back with vengeance.

"Sort of is an understatement."

"I know, it happens when he gets into a bad encounter with Batman, but usually my mother handles him, but since she's-"

"In jail," Robin finished off as he thought back to what had happened when him and his father confronted Joker tonight that would set him off to do this to Tarry. Although you can never be too sure with a psycho killer like the Joker the only guess Damien could come up with was the fact his father and him had thoroughly embarrassed the clown by hanging the clown on a flag pole by his underwear next to an elementary school where he was planning to form a massive army of mindless insane children by spraying them with his Joker gas. If that was what set him off Damien couldn't help but feel responsible, it was him who hung Joker up to wait for the cops using his new jet pack, as he pulled some medication from his pouch.

"What's that?"

"Just something Batman created, it's a pill that not only acts as a strong pain-killer but also helps the body in the process of healing itself," he explained as he slipped the pill into her mouth where she swallowed it. The effects of the medication that her Boy Wonder had given to her shocked her to the point where sat up abruptly because as soon as the pill was swallowed it released an intense warmth throughout her body that numbed and soothed every bone crushing ache. The very sight made Robin laugh slightly as he lightly pushed her back into a laying position. "All because it takes away the feeling of pain doesn't mean the pain is really gone."

"How?" was all she could utter as she stared up into the masked covered eyes that held her gaze. Robin couldn't help but snicker at the girl's astonishment of how effective his father's drug was.

"This is what keeps Batman going no matter what happens to him. Sometimes I feel he also uses it in order to create the image of an unstoppable force like the other heroes are," he explained only to notice he no longer had the young girl's undivided attention, which was now intensely focused on the night sky outside her window. "I didn't know the moon was more interesting than me."

"I wish that I could escape and never return."

"And here I thought you loved living in this shit-hole," he commented only to receive an eye roll before she turned her attention back towards her window.

"You know before you woke me up I had a dream, well actually it was more like a nightmare. It happens every time he causes me pain while his tormenting laughter fills the air," Tarry whispered as her focus remained on the scenery as she reflected once again on what those images that have been haunting her really meant.

"What happens in this nightmare?"

"Well the same thing that always happens, nothing ever changes, it starts out with me staring up into lifeless eyes as blood drips onto me, all I can ever hear is my father's taunting laughter and a voice of a man too weak to be fully audible." Tarry's description made a red light flash in Robin's mind as he mulled over every detail of her story. If what she was telling him was more than a dream then maybe she truly didn't belong here, maybe he could save her but he would need proof if he was going to get his father involved after all as much as neither one of them approved of Joker as a care giver they didn't have the right to risk provoking a fight with the Joker or their identities. As he tried to fit everything together in his mind he got up and started heading for his usual passageway between the worlds where he had to be a crime fighting child hero and the one he could be himself without worrying about every rule his parents have ever put in front of him.

"Wait where are you going?" Tarry asked as she took hold of his cape as he attempted to step through her window.

"Don't worry I'll be back soon, I just need to check out a few things…" he broke off as he saw pain swell in her eyes at the very prospect of him leaving her alone again in this utopia world they have created, in which both children could live a childhood that was not dictated by who their parents but what they wanted to make of their time they had on this Earth. Robin couldn't bring himself to leave but he had to in order to find anything that could rescue her before his father got back from his meeting with the JL members. The young boy ended up wrapping his arms around the girl as he took a communicator from his pocket and slipped it into her hands. "Please trust me Tarry I will be back, hopefully with evidence that will be able to free you from this cage. But for now I'm giving this to you hit the red panic button if your father tries anything like this again while I'm gone."

Once Robin let go of her, she opened her hand to see a yellow and black communicator with a white R in the middle. A burst of untold happiness radiated through her body as she gazed upon the communicator, out of all the things he had ever given her: the diary, the bear in her closet or the freedom of exploring Gotham, nothing could compared to this gift. For to her this gift was a small insight into his world, the world where her costumed secret identity boy was a normal boy who wore normal clothes and lived an average life. She looked up from the gift to thank the Boy Wonder just to see that her small rotting room was empty again with nothing but her to populate it once again.

As Tarry placed the communicator safely under her bed next to her journal she resumed with her sleep with a smile that graced her face with the thought that everything would soon be alright, little did either of the children know that they had a spectator that viewed their whole meeting from the slightly opened door to Tarry's room. While he watched his daughter fall into a deep sleep his blood red lips contorted into a huge deranged smile as he entered the room. Before Tarry could react or even process there was an intruder in her room she felt a lurching pain rip through her neck as her eyes flashed open only to see murder in her father's eyes as he grinned down at her while lifting her up by her neck. As the young girl struggled ruthlessly against her father's strength she could see her little utopia that she had built in secret from her parents crumbling before her eyes.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter: 5**

It wasn't long before Damien found himself in front of the Bat-computer typing away as he typed in Tarry's name and her story in order to see if he could find a link between her description and any case that his father had recorded in his bat files. As the bat computer rapidly search through its data banks, Damien decided to upload her DNA in hopes of seeing if there was any evidence surrounding her DNA print if her story really was just a traumatic dream. He placed strains of her hair on a disc shooting out of the computer that he had collected when he hugged her. When the computer scanned the few strands of black hair almost immediately the DNA test and the case file that he was looking popped up, as he stared upon the screen he could hardly believe how fast the DNA recognition was as well as how fast it helped him to find the evidence he needed to convince his father of his actions to liberate Joker's daughter. I can't believe it takes my father hours to do this kind of stuff, Damien thought triumphantly as he clicked open both the DNA results and the case file just to be paralyze with shock for several moments as he focused on a certain name of a man that he used to hear about all the time from his father: Dick Grayson. Damien could barely comprehend how Tarry could be the missing child that his father had been looking for, for years, but worse yet was how could the Joker do such a thing to a person that was considered one his father's best robins and get away with it for so many years? Damien was broken out of his deep thoughts when he felt his communicator buzzing violently in his pocket with a red light indicating that the communicator that he had given Tarry was sending out a distressed signal. Without thinking he punched in the numbers needed to reach her communicator.

"Tarry what's the matter?"

"Hello Bird-brain! It's so wonderful that you and my daughter have been having so much fun together. Too bad I never approved of any play dates," a sinister voice answered him with a psychotic cackle. Damien's eyes widened with fear as he realized what it meant by hearing Joker on the other line. It meant that their game was over and it wasn't the mice that won this time.

"Where's Tarry," Damien demanded through gridded teeth as he could just picture what Joker was doing to her right now, which was probably way worse than the numerous lectures and grounding that normal girls got when their parents figure out that they been hanging out with a boy that they disapproved of.

"Well since she loved hanging around with you Bird-boy I thought we should as well, although she probably would have more fun if she wasn't hanging upside down."

"Joker I swear if you-"

"You'll do what? You aren't in a situation where you can be making threats. If you really want to know what's happening to your little girlfriend you know where to find us. Oh, Bonnie Doll it's Robipo say Bye-bye." After that all Robin could hear were wild muffled sounds that were coming from most likely from Tarry's taped mouth. As he listened to the line cut off an unimaginable rage built up in him with the knowledge that now that Joker has found out everything it changed his whole game plan, he couldn't just wait for his father to come back, every fleeting moment could spell the end of her and although he still had no clue why that felt so discomforting and nerve racking to him, he knew what he must do as he slipped on his Robin mask once again that night with his feet moving towards his Robin bike.

* * *

Seconds after Robin had zoomed out of the cave an electronic voice announced the arrival of Batman via zeta tube. Batman came back home to a sight that aroused his suspicion as he could have sworn he had turn off the Bat-computer before he left, and more importantly the fact that it was showing a case he hadn't opened in years on it didn't help him feel that he was returning to a normal situation in his house.

"Alfred," Bruce said into an inter-com in hopes that his old time friend, care giver, and butler could shed some light on what went down in the cave in his absences. He was satisfied when he heard footsteps from upstairs coming towards the secret Bat-cave entrance. While he was waiting on his butler Bruce decided to take a look on the surveillance cameras that were littered all over the cave.

"You called Sir?" Alfred stated to announce his arrival in the cave.

"Where's Damien?" Bruce asked as he watched the computer screen loading the security footage.

"Whatever do you mean Master Bruce? Of course he is in-"

"Bed?" Bruce asked with a raised eyebrow at his Butler as the computer brought up footage of Damien walking into the cave, put on his Robin costume, and zoom out of the cave on his bike. As Alfred watched the footage he had to gulp down a lump as he realized that he had made a mistake in trusting Damien. There was no way he needed to wear his uniform to talk to a girl he claimed he met in his civilian clothes, which meant if he was meeting this girl or not he could be in serious danger as well as the secret identities of both of his young wards.

"Listen Master Bruce, I have a confession to make," the butler began as he recounted the whole story to Bruce starting from a month ago when Damien came to him with news that he needed to keep a girl Damien was seeing a secret with tests and quizzes that would take the boy off missions so he could better hang out with a girl he claimed he met on a mission.

"Alfred do you have any idea of the dangers that Damien could get himself into! I mean for all we know he could be really sneaking out to crime fight on his own or-"

Bruce was cut off by the screen that showed his son hours later re-entering the cave only to start typing what Bruce was guessing he saw on the computer when he came in. Going into detective mode he took the footage off fast forward and cranked up the volume, while he put up the last couple of actions that the computer did in the last couple of hours. Both men turned their attention to the footage when they saw Damien pick up his communicator:

_"Tarry what's the matter?"_

_"Hello Bird-brain! It's so wonderful that you and my daughter have been having so much fun together. Too bad I never approved of any play dates." _

_"Where's Tarry!" _

_"Well since she loved hanging around with you Bird-boy I thought we should as well, although she probably would have more fun if she wasn't hanging upside down."_

_"Joker I swear if you-"_

_"You'll do what? You aren't in a situation where you can be making threats. If you really want to know what's happening to your little girlfriend you know where to find us. Oh, Bonnie Doll it's Robipo say Bye-bye." _

Hearing this conversation, quickly skimming the data his son had found, and looking at the DNA test that Damien had done made Bruce put all the pieces together as he realized that Dick Grayson's long lost baby was that girl he encountered a month ago sporting a clown suit and chucking knives. Bruce didn't waste a second as he slipped on his mask again only to hop into the Bat-mobile to save his son and the daughter of his first foster child from the obvious trap Joker was setting up for the two teens.

* * *

It didn't take long for Robin to get back to the old abandoned circus ground; however, this was the first time he had to stick to the shadows instead of just strolling in as he would normally do when he came to visit this place. He managed to sneak into his normal entrance way into Joker's psychotic home, and what he saw shocked him as he looked upon a trail of blood. This didn't only shock him because he knew whose blood it was, but because he could see it was some trap that the Joker was trying to set up for him with the knowledge that he would follow the blood trail. Even though he could see the trap he still found himself following the trail in the hopes that Joker's trap at least guides him to Tarry, then he would have to think of a plan to save both of them. The blood trail took him out of Tarry's room and down a flight of old falling apart stairs that caused Damien to sighed as he realized that there was no way he could be stealthy going down the stairs the old fashion way, he thought as he used his grappling hook to carry him up to the pipes hanging close to the ceiling. From there he hid in the shadows in order to scope out the place instead of blindly barging down there.

What he barely fazed him as he was beginning to expect the unexpected with the Joker, as he saw a large damp dim lighted room that was so moldy and rotten that the color of mold painted not only the walls but also the floor. Off to the side Damien saw what he could guess were his tools to torment Tarry, which consisted of many whips, belts, and crowbars, tasers all that were covered in blood, and finally a huge dunk tank that wasn't used to dunk people in for amusement or charity, but to drown Joker's victims in. Even though all that he saw was disturbing but nothing compared to seeing Tarry tied up by a metal chain with duct tape over her mouth and to top it all off the classic pit of deadly chemicals underneath her. Robin couldn't help but sighing at the Joker's stupidity as he scanned the room in search of the soon to be dead clown. From what the Boy Wonder could see the coast was clear, which meant that he could easily swoop in and out with Tarry before the sick clown can say 'jail time.' The costume cladded boy effortlessly landed with a few flips from his bird's eye view hiding spot until he was a meter away from Tarry and the pit of doom she was dangling a good two feet above.

When both teens came eye to eye, Robin expected to see joy and relief in Tarry's bright green eyes at the prospect that he had kept his promise to return and rescue her from this hell-hole, but he was faced with a petrified look in her eyes as she desperately tried to shake her head in order to get her amusing bird out of there, for she knew neither of them could face what her father had in store for them. Before Robin could processes Tarry's signals to run away Joker's trademark laughter filled the air, causing Robin to curse under his breath especially when he felt a chain that had shot out of the ceiling to wrap around him to leave him hanging in the same position next to Tarry. Great move Damien, underestimate the psychotic murdering clown; won't father be proud, Damien thought to himself as he and Tarry shared a look of terror.

"So nice of you to hang around Boy Blunder," Joker greeted as he stepped out of the shadows of the room with delight at seeing the two teens hanging for their lives at his mercy.

"Let Tarry go it's me you want," Robin demanded as he tried to move his arms towards his utility belt in hopes of being able to grab something useful that would help him out of this mess, but all his efforts were futile as he felt the chain wrap tighter around him with every move.

"I wouldn't struggle too much, the chains are programmed to sense signs of a struggle and too squeeze the life out of the person until they stop or die, you know the whole whichever comes first deal. Anyway my little Love-Bird you are very misguided on what I want. What I wanted was a loyal sidekick to follow all my demands, but no I got this ungrateful brat who would rather go to festivals and watch movies with the enemy. But now that I see I can't achieve what I want I'm going to make sure neither can Batman!"

"You don't mean-"

"Yes I do, if I can't have an obedient sidekick neither can Batsy," the Joker replied as he walked slowly towards a lever on a wall behind them that both teens were guessing was meant to control the chains that stood between life and death for them.

"You're not going to get away with this."

"If only I had a coin for every time I heard that line, but don't fret Robin after all I'm giving both of you a Romeo and Juliet death," the Joker cackled as he brought the lever down causing both teens to start to move slowly towards their deaths. As Damien came closer and closer to the hot steaming pit filled with clear liquid he knew was acid he couldn't help but feel regret and rage at the fact that he had saved many people in his five years of crime fighting yet he had failed to save the person he truly cared about. She wasn't just some random girl he had met a month ago, she meant so much more to him now. She was his friend, not because they both shared an interest in violence or because they both have the same feelings when it came to disobeying the authority figures that have raised them; but because they both understood each others' feelings on a special level that no one will ever be able to comprehend.

"I'm sorry," Robin whispered as he held Tarry's gaze while they both hung several centimeters above the pool of chemicals that would end everything they ever knew but most importantly a relationship that neither teens ever wanted to let go of. A small smile appeared on the boy's face as he saw no regret in the tear filled eyes of the little clown girl he met a month, but a happiness that told him she would have made the same decisions again if fate had given her another chance. They were two outcasts the daughter of a deranged lunatic and the son of an assassin; both children have had their childhoods striped away. I guess in the end dying together made sense to both of them no matter what the cause was.

"Goodbye Tarry," Robin whispered only to have Tarry mumble one in return seconds before they plummeted down into a burning hot death until a baterang hit the lever up that Joker was standing next to causing both the teens to stop falling and the Joker to stop cackling at the demise of his daughter and his arch-enemies partner. Before any of them could fully comprehend what was going on the dark caped crusader swooped in and cut the chains that where binding both his son and his forester son's daughter and saved them from burning alive in a vat of what he could see was a very concentrated solution of hydrochloric acid.

For the first time in Damien's life he has never been so happy to have his father bail him out, even though he knew that this event was not going to go unpunished, but at that moment he was just happy at the prospect that maybe he could carry on his relationship with Tarry without having to go behind his father's back to spend time with her.

"You really think that you can defeat me twice today Batman, well you're wrong," Joker announced as he hit a red button that was right beside the lever he had used to send the teens to their dooms. Which caused the lighting in the room to change to red and a warning alarm went off as the room the begun to fill to the brim with Joker themed henchmen and the Joker's pet hyenas.

Seeing this caused Batman to quickly untie the kids, "Okay here's the plan Robin you handle the goons on the left, and I'll get the-"

"What about me? I want to be able to help as well," Tarry demanded causing both Batman and Robin to share a look that got Batman to sigh as he knew his son was right there probably wasn't away to get her to back down especially if she inherited her father's personality.

"Are you sure you can handle this?"

"Positive as long as you can give me something to fight with."

"How about a baterang?" Batman inquired as he held the bat shaped weapon out towards her.

"Is it sharp?"

"I once drove one right through a bad guy's skull," Damien replied with a smirk as he saw the young girl's face light up at the prospect of the sharp and pointy object that she grabbed from Batman's hand. For some reason Bruce didn't know how to feel about Dick's daughter's reaction to an object that nearly killed said bad guy that Damien had told her. He had to push all that to the back of his head as all three of them plunged into battle under his lead.

The Joker begun to make a getaway once he saw his henchmen losing terribly to the bat squad that only made rage boil through with the knowledge that the only reason they were winning to such an extent was because his daughter had betrayed him and everything he had taught her to stand for since she was nothing but a few hours old.

"Batman, Robin the Joker's getting away!" Tarry announced after stabbing two henchmen in the stomach before she saw her father heading up the stairs to exist his hideout like the coward he was. Batman seeing this threw an exploding baterang at the supports hanging from the ceiling that were carrying the pipes that covered the ceiling. To Joker's dismay this caused a large amount of pipes to fall in between him and his only exist out of his failing plan.

This was the last straw as Joker's face contorted to the point he seriously looked terrifying with his face filled with a wild derange fury clouded with his insanity as he pulled out a gun from a pocket inside his purple coat. An uncontrollable laughter burst out of him as he aimed his gun towards Damien as he was in the middle of taking down four of Joker's henchmen. Neither Robin or the Batman could stop the Joker from pulling the trigger as they were both preoccupied with too many of Joker's henchmen to process how to stop the threat of Joker shooting at them. Tarry could feel her heart plummet to the pits of her stomach when she saw the Joker seconds away from killing Robin. She had no idea why her father insisted on including Robin in her punishment, it was her who went behind his back and started seeing the enemy, so it should be her that dies, she thought as made a dash towards Damien. She was seconds away before the blaring sound of the gun echoed through the air causing everyone to stop dead in their tracks. A lurching yell of pain soon after the shot filled the air along with a sickening thump of a body crashing to the ground.

The very sight of seeing one of the people he cared for most, twitching in agony as she clutched her chest where the bullet had punctured it. The world seemed to slow down for seconds as Damien processed the sight before him, the only person he ever felt he truly cared about outside his family was lying on the ground with a river of blood flowing onto the floor around her. The Joker had gone too far this time, was all that went through the teenage boy's head as he felt fury exploding through him that seemed to speed up time as he paved a way through Joker's henchmen like a mad man in order to make the man who was tickled pink that he had murdered a child he had always referred as his daughter.

"Poor Bird-boy, it looks like your Juliet bit the dust before you, but don't worry you'll soon join her," The Joker cackled as he pointed his gun towards Robin and started to rapidly firing at him in hopes of at least one shot caused damage, but to his misfortune none hit their intended target as the boy swiftly dodged each bullet as he climbed the stairs heading towards the clown dressed man with an aura that Bruce had saw around the boy when his mother dropped him off in Bruce's care. This wasn't good, Batman thought as he hurried up and took down the last of Joker's goons before springing towards his son in order to stop him from destroying five years of progress he had shown by learning to dispatch the villains rather than killing them.

"You're going to pay for what you've done once and for all!" Robin yelled as he slammed a punch across the Joker's face, causing the laughter in the air to stop and was replaced with excoriating sounds of skin slamming against skin.

"Ha-ha…ha-ha…what're you…going…to do? Kill me?" The Joker choked out as excoriating pain sunk into him from the brutal beating he had just received, but despite the pain and the blood that were exploding out of him he still managed to smile through the swelling on his face, unable to break his code of always smiling till the end.

This statement brought a murderous smirk to Damien's face as he took out his sword, grabbed Joker's reddening purple suit, and before the Joker knew it Damien's had placed his sword roughly against Joker's neck causing a few drops of blood to fall from it. "Thanks for the suggestion," Damien stated as he drew back his sword in order to make a swift kill by slicing through his throat. He was inches away from doing the whole of Gotham a favor by silencing the Joker's trademark cackling laughter that haunt the very souls of the Gothamites, when Bruce grabbed hold of the arm that Damien was using to deal a blow that could end the suffering of the people of Gotham for the rest of their lives. Bruce inwardly took a step back when his son whipped around baring a look of pure hatred, regret, and sorrow. Bruce couldn't believe that his son could truly care about someone else other than him that would make Damien express such emotions visibly on his face, because like him the boy has never been to good at expressing feelings that could be taken as a weakness. Although he knew that they couldn't cross the line and kill Joker, but no matter what for the sake of his son and the sake of Dick's daughter if she pulls through he was going to make the Joker pay one way or the other.

"Let go of me, Batman!" Robin yelled as he struggled against his father's strength only to no avail.

"We don't have time to go on an avenging crusade; Tarrin doesn't have much time left." It surprised the young billionaire how his words struck home to Damien causing the young boy to loosen from his father's grip only to find the teen running towards his first real friend instead of finishing what he started with the Joker.

"I…knew…you wouldn't…have…the guts…to kill your good…old pal…the-" the Joker was cut off by Bruce hitting a pressure point on Joker's neck that instantly knocked him out cold.

"Why did you take that bullet for me?" Damien demanded as his face contorted with sorrow; however, no tears fell he was too far gone with self-hatred and an agonizing sorrow for him to shed tears.

"Robin ever…since you…came into my…room a month ago…you have…helped create…a world where I was…free…now it's mine turn…to return the favor," Tarry managed to choke out. By this time she was starting to fade in and out of consciousness in Damien's arms as he frantically worked to keep her with him, but all his effort was futile as she drifted into a cold dark oblivion in Damien's arms. Robin put his head against her chest in order to check her pulse, only to turn around slowly to give his father a look that answered the dark knight's unspoken question before he picked up Tarry gently in his arms as the dynamic duo left the scene of the crime as sirens from police cars filled the air from outside.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter: 6**

A sigh uttered from Bruce mouth as he came into the Bat-cave with a box of new medical supplies only to see Alfred hard at work in reviving Tarry. "What's the situation with the kids?" he asked anxious to know how both kids were doing since he left to pick up much needed supplies from his friend Luscious, as he placed the new medical equipment down in the medical bay part of the Bat-cave.

"Well both are doing equally worse than before you left, Sir. After destroying the training area I sent Damien up to his room to vent and pace as much as needs to, and for the young Lady well…it will be a miracle if I can get her vitals stable."

"I thought you said the Joker didn't hit her heart."

"At this point due to her earlier injuries and her lack of nutrient even the least fatal gunshot could kill her. Her body doesn't have the strength or nutrients to help her pull through this Master Bruce," Alfred explained solemnly without taking his eyes off his work as he transfused new blood into her in order to replace the large sum of blood she had lost during the last several hours of the day.

"Alfred do whatever you need to, this child cannot die for both Damien's sake and the sake of the promise I made on Dick's wife's gravestone to find their daughter," Bruce whispered as he turned around to head out of the Bat-cave.

"Sir, prepare yourself, for the worse," Alfred warned knowing exactly where Bruce was headed. Bruce nodded in acknowledgement knowing quiet well the kind of situation he was going to get himself into by going upstairs to comfort Damien. The only things that worried him while climbing out of the cave was aggravating his wounded son and whether or not he was going to come out of Damien's room alive, because if his son was able to decimate the training room he spent millions to make who knows what was in store for him behind the doors he will soon be in front of. When Bruce arrived upstairs he knocked on the door before entering to see his son pacing around with his head hung low. As his son looked towards him, shock visibly appeared on his face as he saw the one person he never expected to be crying standing in front of him with his eyes blood shot.

"Have you been crying?" Bruce questioned in a whisper that made him regret asking by the way his son glared daggers at him for pointing out the obvious fact that he never wanted to show anyone. Great my first mistake, Bruce thought as he inwardly face-palmed for walking into that land mine. If he was going to make it through this little chat alive without causing further damage he would have to tread lightly from now on.

"What do you want father?"

"Damien, I know what you're going through when I lost my parents-"

"Why are you telling me that story father, she's not going to die," Damien stated as he paused from his pacing only to glare harder at his father. Right now he didn't want to hear his father's sob story, it had nothing to do with his case. He had done his homework on the event back then there was no hope for them, and last time he checked Tarry was still breathing, still holding on to life.

"We can't rule out the possibility, anyway I came upstairs to let you know that I understand what you're going through-"

"How can you understand what I'm going through! You've never been in the situation where you can save random strangers yet you failed to save the one person that matters!"

"That's where your wrong my son, how do you think I felt when Jason died? I had the capability to save him but I was seconds too late to save him!"

"Yeah, but in the end Jason Todd is still alive…who's going to dump her in the Lazarus Pit to fix this? Just leave!" Damien ordered as he returned to his pacing as if his father was already gone. Bruce opened his mouth to further address the matter but he closed it seconds later after realizing he couldn't save this situation with words without stepping on more land mines. As he exited his son's room he wished he could be like other parents that would have told their kid that everything was going to be okay and that the situation would end in a happily ever after, but he wasn't one of those parents. He had faced so much death to have the heart to lie to his son that everything would be okay especially with the fact that they were in Gotham where happy endings rarely grace the crime infested streets.

It wasn't long before Bruce found himself taping away at the Bat-computer to calm his nerves as he looked into Tarry's case in order to find any other clues that he neglected to see before that would shed some light about how Joker managed to kidnap the girl without leaving a trace behind after all the Joker was known for marking his handiwork whether it was a Jack in the box or a Joker playing card.

"So I'm guessing your little conversation with Master Damien didn't go so well?" Alfred questioned behind him as he dried his hands from washing blood off them after finishing transfusing blood into Tarry and stitching her up.

"Try horrible, I don't know what to do. I tried to be realistic with him, but now I feel like I should have sugar coated it for him," Bruce replied as he spun around in his chair to face his oldest friend with a look that was deep in thought.

"Master Bruce, you couldn't sugar coat anything even if you tried. What Damien needs to hear is the truth, but that doesn't mean you leave out the hope and possibility that she could make a full recovery."

"Speaking of Tarry what's her status?"

"Well I managed to make her somewhat stable with the transfusion. So now we leave her fate up to time to see whether she'll pull through or not."

"Then tell Damien the news. I don't think he'll talk to me for a while," Bruce stated as he got up from the computer with Alfred by his side to head upstairs to use what was left of the night to re-charge their batteries. Although the news didn't seem to lift Damien's worry it was enough to comfort him to at least take Alfred's advice and get some sleep that night.

* * *

From that night both Bruce and Alfred tried to bring the usual routine in the house back to normal, but they couldn't with each passing day that week Damien refused to eat and to leave Tarry's side with the only exception of Bruce hauling him of to bed where he spent most of the night pacing with worry as he pondered why she wasn't waking up despite her vitals being fairly stable.

"Damien it's time to go to sleep," Bruce stated as he finished putting on his Bat suit to spend yet another night patrolling Gotham with his third foster son Tim Drake, otherwise known as Red Robin, since Alfred thought it best for Damien to stay in the Manor until Tarry's condition had a clear status.

"What's the point? How do you expect me to sleep when she's been like this for a week?" Damien questioned as he paused from reading the journal that he had given her after hearing from Alfred that talking to her about something significant to her may help her to wake up. Although he's been reading the little she has written in her journal for days he was determined to continue even though it brought no results at the end of the day, but it was better than doing nothing. Doing something, anything that could bring her back prevented him from losing control of his temper or his emotions.

"If you're not going to sleep at least go to your room you don't want to get in Alfred's way when he comes down to do a check up on her," Bruce warned as he hopped into the Bat-mobile and was speeding away into Gotham seconds later. After glancing at the pale faced girl in front of him he soon got up to fulfill his father's wishes with the thought that it might help her someway somehow in her recovery in order justify him leaving her each night.

"Good night Master Damien," Alfred bides as he passed the young boy on his way to his patient. It wasn't long before everyone had drifted off into their beds for the night; however, in the dark cave lay Tarry stretched out on a bed in the medical bay that they hoped would remain knocked out until morning. But as the young girl's eyes began to open to reveal a pair of green eyes that assumption was cased away. As she took in her surroundings of the dark ominous bat filled cave, billions of questions flowed her mind like where was she, how did she get here, and most importantly was she free from the clutches of her father? More and more as these questions went through her mind without her being able to remember anything that would answer them she began to panic. What if this was just another one of her father's hideouts? If that was true then she had to get out of here no matter what, after all with the stunt she pulled he was probably waiting for her to wake up so she was conscious to witness her death. She soon found herself running out of the Bat-cave despite the pain that burned through her chest from the injury she obtained from her father's gun. Although she had no idea where her feet were taking her, she had to keep going in order to find somewhere safe so she can figure out a way to contact Robin, if he hadn't been killed by her father already.

* * *

Back at the mansion Damien was startled by his communicator beeping as it flashed green, the very sight shocked Damien for seconds before he grabbed it and ran out of his room towards the Bat-cave. For he created that signal to inform him if anything changed in Tarry's condition because he had programed the communicator he gave her to monitor her heart rate, so it would tell him if there is an increase in her activity or if the activity plummeted to zero. The sight that the young boy faced when he finally made his way through to the medical bay was an empty bed and blood drenched IV tube that Damien could only guess was ripped out violently in the process of Tarry's escape. Just go to bed she'll be fine, yeah right, Damien thought as he zoomed out of the cave in his Robin suit from the hanger doors that had a scalpel driven into the control set that laid on the wall next to the hanger doors. The only saving grace in this situation was that the communicator he used to monitor her heart could also be used to track her as well.

It wasn't long before Robin followed Tarry's communicator to an old abandoned alley located in the worst part of Gotham, the part that was known for where all the criminal activity went down in Gotham. Damien sighed getting off his bike with the notion that this was no place for a girl who just woke up from a near comatose state to be especially at night. As the young Boy Wonder casually walked into the alley he stopped dead in his tracks to a commanding yell telling him to stay back as he saw a scalpel flying towards him. Being trained by his parents his whole life allowed him to dodge the flying scalpel before running to the very end of the alley to grab hold of Tarry's arms before she could throw another one at him.

"Calm down it's just me," Damien said causing Tarry to instantly drop the scalpels in her hands as many emotions rushed through ranging from shock all the way to relief that Robin was able to escape the clutches of her father.

"Sorry for the whole trying to impale you with a scalpel."

"No damage done, but I wish I could say the same for those alley cats," Robin replied as a couple of dead cats with scalpels lodged into their heads caught his eye while he was running towards her. "Any way what compelled you to runaway especially to here or all places?"

"What do you expect me to do when I wake up in a strange cave filled with bats? I thought I was still in the hands of my father and that he was trying to keep me alive in order to torture me a little more before killing me."

"Tarry the Joker won't ever be able to hurt you again, we made sure he got maximum security jail time in Belle Reve, instead of Arkham. So with that being said will you come back with me to our scary bat infested hideout?" Damien questioned as he held out a hand towards her with a warm smile that left Tarry stunned for several moments until she forced herself out of it only to shrink away deeper into the dark alley.

"I can't Robin, as long as I'm with you there's no jail in the world that can stop my father from killing me and everyone I care about."

"Batman and I are trained to handle people like Joker, we won't let him touch you again and there is no way he'll be able to hurt us-"

"Really! A couple of days ago you almost got shot!" Tarry shouted as she moved away from the colorfully cladded sidekick until her back was up against the brick wall that brought an end to the alley.

"I'm not only offering protection, Tarry, I'm also offering a chance to be a part of a real family and to have a real life where you don't have to spend every second in fear of your next beating. Please come back with me, I just spent the last couple of days wondering what it would be like without you and I don't want to go through that again."

"I-I-I don't know-"

"If you come with me now all will be revealed, no more secrets. Do you trust me?" Damien asked as he moved his hand closer towards her in hopes that she would take it.

"Since you aren't giving much of a choice in this matter, I trust you," she answered while taking hold of his hand that guided her out of the alley onto the back of his Robin-cycle. That night as Tarry was introduced to both the Bat-cave where the boy she met a month ago was Robin and the manor on top of the cave where her friend was really named Damien, she couldn't help but feel that it was all a dream that she wasn't really the daughter of a psychotic clown and that she was actually sleeping on an actual bed next to the person she cherished most in the world right now and probably for the rest of her life.

* * *

"Alfred is there any reason why the hanger door to the Cave is broken?" Bruce asked with a sigh as he ripped the scalpel out of the device controlling the doors.

"I'm not entirely sure, I awoke long enough to see Master Damien guiding Lady Tarry up to his room," the butler replied as he handed his oldest ward a cup of his famous hot chocolate to warm the billionaire up after going head to head with Mr. Freeze all night.

"Is it alright for her to be discharged from your care Dr. Alfred?" Bruce asked in a joking tone as they walked upstairs towards Damien's room.

"Well Sir, I don't think I have the heart to disturb them," Alfred admitted as they looked upon a scene of both teens sleeping peaceful holding hands that Alfred could guess that they never let go off since he saw the young couple scurrying through the Manor over an hour ago.

"Alfred I've been thinking although I said I would punish Damien for breaking almost every rule I ever made, but I can't really blame him, I mean he wasn't sneaking out to defy my commands, but to make contact with someone his age."

"What are you purposing sir?"

"Maybe it's time to stop the home schooling and put him in a school," Bruce replied as he closed the door softly to his son's room before walking down the hall towards his bedroom all the while giving Alfred orders to clear a room for Tarry, prepare some clothes she could wear, and finally to enroll both of them in Gotham Academy.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The next couple of days were used to settle Tarry into her new surroundings and preparing both teens for their first day of school. The latter being harder because Tarry seem to fit right in thanks to Alfred's amazingly good chocolate chip cookies and the fact that their Great Dane too had taken a liking to her. The real problem that both Bruce and Alfred had to face was trying to convince Damien that this whole notion of sending them to school wasn't some mundane punishment for almost getting himself killed a couple weeks ago due to his weekly visits into enemy territory. It wasn't too long before Bruce was looking upon the two teens neatly dressed in the Gotham Academy uniform, which was a white shirt, red tie, a navy blue blazer, and navy blue pants for boys and skirts for girls.

"I can't believe that father's sending us to some boring learning institution," Damien complained once they were in the black limo that Alfred usually drove to ensure the wards he was in charge of made it to every appointment they had on time.

"I assure you Master Damien your father is doing this for your own good and Lady Tarry's."

"TT, I doubt it, what do you think Tarry," Damien grumbled as he looked towards the girl seating next to him with her head up in the clouds as she stared at the moving scenery through her window.

"I dunno, never been to a school before, but I would take it over my life with the Joker any day," Tarry replied absent mindedly as she continued to gaze at the moving figures through her window. This caused Damien to fall silent for the rest of the drive to Gotham Academy as Tarry's mention of the Joker got him thinking about the episodes she has been having ever since he brought her back with him to the Manor. They started with her showing up at the door to his room in the middle of night in tears, but lately when he let her fall asleep with him she often awoke several times with screaming fits that would end in painful sobs until she fell asleep again. He wondered what could be so terrifying to a girl who fearlessly leaped in front of a bullet and managed to put up with two deranged clowns ever since she was born. Whatever it was Alfred and his father weren't too concerned about it as if it was a phase that she would get over as time progressed, he hoped they were right not only because he was worried about her, it was also the fact that her night terrors were seriously cutting into what little sleep he had and if he was going to have to wake-up at six every morning to get ready for school he was going to need every ounce of sleep he could get.

It wasn't long before the two teens found themselves staring at a brick building with children their age or close to their age surrounding the massive building with the words Gotham Academy engraved in the front of the school. As they stood in front of their limo a blond girl with a preppy attitude sprang at them out of nowhere catching both highly trained teens off guard. "Hey you must be the new students, I'm Emily Jacobs, your student lesion. I'm the one you can come to talk to if you have any questions. I'm all hears 8 hours of the day," the girl greeted with an annoyingly cheerful smile as she flicked her brunette bangs out of her eyes to reveal a pair of very warm and friendly set of hazel eyes.

"Damien Wayne, and what about the other 16 hours of the day?"

"Well we aren't in school then silly, unless you want to talk off school grounds that would be totally alright with me as well," Emily giggled as she gave Damien a friendly whack across the back. Somehow just by witnessing this girls behavior confirmed to him that he was so not going to make it through the day without killing someone most likely the ditzy girl standing in front of them. He thought as turned around hoping it wasn't too late to get back into the car and command Alfred to take them back home, but all he could see to his misfortune was the back of the limo as it sped away as if Alfred predicted this encounter with this girl was going to result in Damien demanding to be taken home.

"I'm Tarry Grayson," Tarry introduced before Damien grabbed her hand and led her into the crowd of kids around the school building in hopes they could lose the girl before her overly happy attitude started to really get on his nerves. "Shouldn't you have at least put up with her until she showed us to our first class?" Tarry asked as them moved with the crowd of kids into the school to get ready for class as the warning bell to get to first period sounded.

"Not unless you planned to get your new uniform dirty," Damien answered with a shrug as he found their lockers that had been conveniently placed beside each other thanks to his father's influence.

"Hey Damien long time no see," a boy with ginger hair greeted Damien followed by a boy with brunette hair as he opened his locker to stuff a few books that Alfred thought he might need just in case he wanted to review anything he had learned before since Alfred had taught him all the necessary information taught to grade nines two years ago.

"Well I've been busy."

"I can see that, so what are you doing here Mr. I'm-too-cool-for-school?" the boy with brunette hair asked as he leaned on a locker on the other side of Damien's.

"Father thought it would be a good learning experience to be around kids my age," Damien grumbled at how absurd his father's decision was.

"I didn't know you had friends," Tarry stated as she looked at the boys who were brave enough to talking to Damien on a familiar bases without getting their heads beaten off due to his normally prickly personality. Tarry's interjection caused both boys to look over Damien's shoulder to see a pretty medium sized lean girl with long flowing black hair that almost touched the ground and deep green eyes. Before Damien could say a word to the two boys in front of him the brunette quickly appeared leaning too close towards Tarry for Damien's liking.

"I'm Bart Allen and let me guess you're beautiful," Bart stated with one of his classic cheeky smiles that usually won over all the girls in the school, too bad Tarry wasn't like every other girl.

"Actually I'm-"

"Off limits," Damien interrupted as he pulled Tarry away from the two boys.

"What was that all about? I thought they were your friends," Tarry asked confused by Damien's reaction to his friend calling her beautiful actually she was confused about that as well after all no one has ever called her beautiful or any adjective of the sort.

"Does it really matter," Damien stated as he looked at the piece of paper Alfred had given him with both his and Tarry's schedule on as he tried to figure out where first period English was taking place while trying very hard to fight down the anger at the very notion that Tarry was able to attract other boys' attention that wasn't his. They wandered the hallways of the school aimlessly as the hallways became less congested over time signifying to both teens that they were seriously late by the time they stumbled upon a door that was labeled ninth grade Arts. Being the proud and self-important person Damien was, he opened the door and walked into the classroom as if he owned the place, which was partly true considering how much his father donated to the school every year.

"How dare you just waltz into class ten minutes late!" a woman in her early sixties with silvering black hair wearing a long black skirt and a white dress blouse, demanded with her back towards the two late students as her body slightly trembled in anger. She was the type of teacher that was strict and would die before she took nonsense from a student; the type that struck fear into the very fibers of all those who she taught. Both Tarry and Damien had witnessed way scarier atrocities than a ninth grade teacher, which made her anger have little effect on them than it did on the rest of the class that looked like they would wet themselves and they weren't even the ones in trouble.

"Just chill Lady we're here now we just got a little lost," Tarry explained causing Damien to inwardly face palm as he made a mental note to teach how Tarry to talk to teachers later as said teacher whipped around with fury firmly engrained in her face.

"Excuse me young lady that is no way to talk to someone older than you much rather your new English and home room teacher," the cranky lady chided as she glared daggers at Tarry who to her surprise returned the same jester tenfold. Tension hit the once peaceful class like electricity as the two entered into a glaring contest as if to determine who was really the dominate one in this situation.

With one look at the situation Damien knew he had to break it up before it became necessary for the school to have to look for a new teacher for them. All it took was a clearing of his voice to snap everyone's attention towards him, which instantly changed the cold atmosphere in the classroom as they realized who he was. "What's your name?" Damien demanded once all eyes were on him and he could see the kids and the teacher start to realize the true value of his presence in their classroom.

"M-m-mrs. Brett, I am Mrs. Brett," the teacher stuttered clearly regretting losing her temper in front of the boy whose father single handily funded the school and was probably the source of all the staff at the school's larger pay check, yeah this was one kid no teacher wanted to mess with.

"Well Mrs. Brett, we apologize for disrupting your class, but that gives you no right to be rude. My father funds this school in order for the kids of Gotham to find their true potential in society not for teachers to be little their students especially a couple of new students trying to find their way around the school. Understood?" Damien lectured with a tone that struck fear into the teacher's very soul as she scrambled to the front of the room to apologize.

It wasn't long before the two new kids were introduced to the class and assigned to the only vacant desks at the back of the room. _I can't believe my father spends money on this school only to achieve mediocrity at best_, Damien thought as he watched the teacher trying so hard to look good in front of him that she was doing the exact opposite. His attention shifted from the incompetency of the teacher towards Tarry who was staring absentmindedly out of the window she sat beside like he had saw her doing an hour ago in the car. At times like this he wished he knew what was going on in her mind like before, when it was just her and him in that rat infested room back when she wasn't Dick Grayson's daughter but the Joker's. He hated to wish for those times again because of all the pain it had caused Tarry, but he couldn't help himself. Those times of sneaking around with the fear of getting caught and the excitement of the mystery of not really knowing one another, but even though they really didn't know each other like they do now they were able to share a lot more like things that they have never told anyone else and never will tell anyone else. Maybe it was the prospect that they never believed that they would be anything else than two friends separated by the forces of good and evil, whatever it was ever since he introduced Tarry into the family and told her who he really was somehow took that feeling of being able to tell each other anything away.

"And that concludes our lesson," Mrs. Brett announced as a bell rung overhead declaring it was recess time according to his schedule. Damien looked up at the black board to see that he had somehow spaced out for two periods English and History not that it bother him after all he was taught all this by Alfred awhile back. What bothered him was the flock of teens heading towards him while he rather talked to Tarry to figure out what was on her mind.

"Hey Damien, I'm Mel Duncan captain of the soccer team," a tanned skin boy introduced after breaking through the crowd of girls that surrounded Damien.

"So."

"Well I'm hoping that you'll join the team after all everyone knows that all Mr. Wayne's sons are really good at sports."

"For your information I'm not like them I'm Bruce Wayne's biological son, but I will consider playing on the team if you get these insects around me to disappear," Damien answered broadly as he sighed at the sight of seeing the boy trying his hardest to ward of Damien's new fan club with mediocre success.

While Damien was trying fight through the love of his new fan club Tarry was about to leave the class in order to get some air on a patch of the school's roof that was completely flat with what looked like a fence around the area to ensure that no one fell off the edge. "Hey Tarry, how's your day been so far?" the girl named Emily asked as she skip towards Tarry with a glee that slightly disturbed newest member to the Bat family.

"Good I guess," Tarry answered with a shrug as she continued to head towards the roof.

"That's awesome so have you joined any clubs or teams? Cause I think you are totally Gotham Academy Bat material."

"What do you mean I'm Gotham Academy Bat material?"

"Well duh I'm saying that you'll make a good cheerleader."

"What's a cheerleader?"

"You are so silly," Emily giggled as she whacked Tarry on the back causing the young girl to see why Damien was so irritated with her this morning. It wasn't only her annoying mannerisms but her very being that made Tarry want to whack her upside the head. "A cheerleader is someone who cheers on our sports teams," Emily went on to explain.

"That doesn't sound very interesting," Tarry answered as she picked up her pace in an attempt to lose her shadow.

"Wait," the brunette with a bob-cut exclaimed as she took hold of Tarry's arm to get her attention again. "What's your relationship with Damien?" Emily asked not only out of her own curiosity but also for Damien's new fan club, after all, the Wayne boys were normal known as loners that hung out with few, but they always seemed pick one girl they deemed worthy of their time. That girl usually ended up as their girlfriend; it was seen with Dick and Barbra, Jason and Cassandra, and Tim and Stephanie.

Tarry let out a sigh of exhaustion as she struggled against her normal instincts to flip anyone who suddenly grabs her. "I guess we're friends, we've known each for a while since my father was really good friends with Mr. Wayne," Tarry answered back regurgitating the exact back story that Mr. Wayne went over with her this morning before he ended up shoving both her and Damien in the car by force.

"Well since your friends wouldn't you want to cheer him on and support him since Mel has gotten him to agree to join the soccer team," Emily persuaded with a little hope that somehow this method would work in convincing the new girl into joining the squad, not because she particularly cared about her relationship with Damien apart from knowing whether they were friends or more than that, but because she couldn't stand to see cheerleader potential go to waste. Whether Tarry knew it or not she wasn't only pretty but had lean yet skinny figure most cheerleaders on the team would kill for.

"Cheering and supporting him…" Tarry muttered as she thought deeper about the matter, somehow with the mention of helping Damien seem to change the appeal of this team that was uninteresting moments ago. "If you put it that way I guess I'll join."

"Great! Our first event is cheering on the soccer boys during their exhibition match against the older high school boys team to get them ready for when their season actually does start," Emily boomed with excitement as she left the confused new girl in the hall to wonder what was so big about her joining her team of cheerleaders that she had to do a cart-wheel on her way back to what Tarry was assuming whatever hole she crawled out of. But Tarry quickly got over the girl's abnormal behavior to find herself running upstairs until she burst through the door standing between her and the flat surface of the roof she was eyeing when she was walking into the school two periods ago. The scenery outside was amazing as the warm April sun shone brightly illuminating the whole area to the point that it was hard to see at first until the young girl's eyes adjusted well enough that she could gaze across at the view from the gated balcony. She rested her head on her folded arms that were placed on the gate as she looked upon the sight of a vast green space covered by lush trimmed grass right up to the point that the area started to turn into concert signifying where that piece of nature that was littered with mighty oak trees really was in a city. The trees in the stretch of nature surrounded a playground where a few kids were running around with their friends…and parents. Tarry couldn't help wondering what her life would've been like if the Joker hadn't broken into her parents' hospital room to kill them and kidnap her fourteen years ago. A wave of uncontrollable melancholy washed over her as flashes of what she now knew were her real parents dying at the Joker's hand. She could hardly believe all her life she knew the truth without realizing that dream she always had was telling her that she never belonged in that insane house. There had been so many opportunities for her to escape from them, but she always felt that she had a duty to stay with them since she couldn't pick her parents…

"I knew I would find you up here," Tarry heard causing her to break out of her deep thoughts to look behind her to see Damien walking into place next to her as he placed his head in folded arms in the same manner as her. "So what's bothering you?"

"Why do you think that their something wrong with me, and how did you know I would be up here?"

"First of all this place was all you could look at when we were entering the school and plus boy detective over here. Secondly you just look like someone that has something wrong with them especially with the random spacing out and need to hide out in secluded areas," Damien said in a matter of fact tone that made Tarry sigh knowing that even if she did really try there was no way she could hide anything from him not because his father was the greatest detective that ever lived but because they have gotten to know each other too well over the time they spent fugitives of their parents' rules.

"Lately…I don't know, I've been thinking about the life I missed out on all because the Joker kidnapped me and made me an orphan. It's still a little hard to swallow the fact that you've been living a lie for fourteen years; a lie that had kept me locked away from society with an obligation of following everything the murder of my parents said."

"I really wish you and my father let me kill him when I had the chance," Damien said nonchalantly as if wanting to kill someone was a natural thing and to Damien it was after coming to terms with the true magnitude of the Joker's actions. He not only killed someone from the Bat family, but he almost killed another one that practically devoted as much of her life to him as Harley.

"It's not your right to get your hands dirty over that maniac or anyone's really after all killing him will only sink you to his level and who wants to be on the same level as a murdering psycho?"

"So that's it you're going to let him go scout free? Do you even really care for what he has really done?" Damien demanded only to look away from her as she started to tremble while fighting back tears. He felt like mentally kicking himself for uttering such a low bellow.

"I do care Damien so much that it haunts me in my sleep, to the point that I can barely enjoy my life now that I'm not in an isolated hell. I guess it's because I only ever thought I had one option and that life outside of it would suck even more and to think that even that was a lie too infuriates me. Do you know how many times I thought of running away? How many times I thought of how nice it would be to never wake up after being abused?" Tarry announced through greeted teeth as her hands clutched the metal gate with such a force that it seemed like if she let go she might have crumbled right there.

"Tarry, I didn't-"

"Mean it like that? I know just give me a little time," she half pleaded and half demanded from the boy as she smiled a smile still completely void of anything but pain. All Damien could do was nod a yes to her feeling a little incompetent that he ever thought all it would take was introducing her into his world to make all the pain and hurt that the Joker had inflected upon her to go away.

"Only as long as you don't take too long I might die of sleep deprivation if you keep on screaming all night," Damien stated with a smirk that caused Tarry's face to go bright red as she caught on to the fact that his words had another meaning to them one that she wasn't sure what it truly meant but whatever it was it made her feel the normal uncomfortable reaction she had gotten when Damien was a boy named Robin who climbed though her window ever so often a month ago.

Damien couldn't help but let his smile grow as he watched the ex-clown flustered and pound her fist on his shoulder for making a subtle innuendo out of her night terrors to lighten the mood. Although they still weren't like they were before, but he could tell somehow they made a little process.

"Hey told ya the two love birds were up here," they heard causing the once lighten mood to shatter as they whipped around to see Damien's so called friends walk towards them.

"What do you two want?" Damien demanded with a glare that was used to pierce Bart especially for his love bird comment.

"Well we never really got to properly introduce ourselves."

"Whatever, Tarry the ginger one is Colin Wilkes aka Abuse and the other one is Bart Allen aka Impulse," Damien introduced only to have his two friends look at him dumbfounded at how easily he told this their secret identities without a second thought.

"Dude does secret identities mean nothing to you Robin?" Bart nearly shouted in anger.

"I'm the daughter to Dick Grayson the first Robin so I already know his secret identity," Tarry stated nonchalantly as she smirked when she saw that even that bit of news didn't knock them out of their shock both bat kids left them standing there on the roof as they headed back into the school to get to their next period early this time around.

* * *

Before either Damien or Tarry knew it two more boring courses had finished indicating that the bell that was sounding meant it was lunch time. Unlike a handful of kids within their class neither bat teen was able to fully enjoy their lunches because to their misfortunes as they were ushered out the classroom, Tarry by Emily and Damien by Mel, they had made plans during lunch.

"I'm so not wearing this, you never said joining the cheerleaders meant wearing such uncomfortable clothes!" Tarry exclaimed as she found herself in a navy blue sleeveless crop top that had red hemming with a black bat on her back and the words 'Go Gotham Bats!' on the front in red letters, and an equally short skirt that was navy blue and had the same color hemming as her top.

"Come on Tarry, you promised to join plus I bet Damien will think your pretty if sees you on the field," Emily shimmed as she ushered Tarry towards the mirror to see a girl wearing very revealing clothes to her standards, _so Damien will think that I'm pretty in this? _She thought causing a violent blush to engulf her face. Although she didn't approve of the clothes she found herself seating back down to put on a pair of white sneakers that had little bats on the sides, with the notion that she couldn't go back on her promise but deep down she knew the real reason why she hadn't thrown off the clothes and headed for the exit.

"And who this Emily?" a girl with long flowing wavy golden locks and piercing blue eyes questioned as she passed by them in the girls locker room not pleased to see a new face on the cheer squad that she wasn't notified about.

"Her name's Tarry Grayson, I recruited her," Emily answered with a beaming smile as if this may have been her greatest accomplishment, which only worried Tarry more that she might be talking to someone that belonged in Arkham.

"What makes you think she's cheer material?"

"Well Wendy, she's really pretty, and she definitely has guts you should've seen her standing up to Mrs. Brett this morning."

"Whatever, I'll let this slide this time but if this girl gets in our way she's off the team," Wendy warned as she walked away while glaring at Tarry who couldn't help but feel confused at the fact that someone hated her before they even gotten to know her, but she soon shrugged off after all she wasn't exactly a ray of sun shine like Emily.

"Sorry about Wendy, I should've ran your recruitment by the head cheerleader, but I guess it isn't only that ever since she heard Damien was coming to the school she's kicked off all the girls on the squad that rivaled her in the look department and made herself the leader of his fan club," Emily explained only to giggle as she saw confusion in Tarry's face when she mentioned Damien's fan club, which led her to go into great detail about what being part of a fan club meant and all the boys who had them. It shocked Tarry that girls would actually lower themselves to worship boys that were just everyday people, plus she rather not see how big Damien's already very inflated ego could get. The very thought of the fan clubs made Tarry dismiss all girls that took part in them as crazy, but somehow hearing that half the girls in the school were in Damien's rubbed her the wrong way for some reason she couldn't quit describe.

"Emily what's the real reason you got me into this?" Tarry questioned as she cocked an eyebrow of seeing the girls on the team skipping out of the locker room into the gym with beaming fake smiles plastered across their faces.

"To be honest when I first saw you this morning I knew I wanted to be friends with you," Emily giggled especially at the slight look of terror in Tarry's face at the prospect of spending more time with her. No matter how much Tarry found her behavior weird or disturbing she couldn't help but feel happy at the notion that there was someone other than Damien that wanted to be her friend, whether they actually end up as friends was another story entirely.

* * *

"Geez I wonder what all the up roar is about," Colin thought out loud as he heard a burst of excitement coming from the gym area.

"Either the Varsity team has entered the gym or they got wind that Mr. Pouty face is going to be playing," Bart replied with a snicker that was silenced by said Mr. Pouty face who was still running through excuses to get himself out of playing this afternoon so he could eat lunch with Tarry.

"Hey did you see the cheerleaders just now?" the boys heard some of their other teammates talking as they returned from checking out what had gotten the crowd of students spectating the soccer event all rallied up.

"How could you miss them especially the new cheerleader I think her name was…Tarry or something."

"Ten bucks I score her first."

"Yeah right you'll never have chance, but you're on." This conversation caused both Colin and Bart to look towards their friend only to see a face that made both of them want to wet their pants as they could visibly see Damien's anger rolling off him. A rage that left the boy trembling in his new soccer outfit that matched the colors and designs on the cheerleading outfits, so when Damien walked up to the two unsuspecting team members it didn't surprise them to hear them yelling for mercy as their friend stuffed the two terrified boys into a locker meant for one body at the most.

"Was it really necessary to stuff them in a locker hanging them by their underwear?" Bart questioned as he felt slightly sorry for the two boys that looked like they wet themselves out of fear that Bart wouldn't even wish on his worse enemies let alone a couple of boys who were just doing what normal teenage boys did drooling over the cheerleaders.

"It's a disgrace to be part of a team that gets easily distract all because of some girls dressed scandalously for school sport."

"So it's a disgrace to be on a typical boys' team? Really D that is so not the reason you stuff those poor kids into a locker. The real reason is that you're jealous that Tarry's attracting attention from other boys that aren't you," Colin stated in a logical tone that only added to Damien's anger that was now directed at his friends.

"What makes you so sure I like her in that way?"

"Because wasn't it you that said that she was keeping you up all night with her screaming, which means…" Bart wasn't able to finish his sentence before he saw a fist flying at him that missed by an inch, but the crater in the wall that the punch left stunned Bart as Damien walked out of the male changing room. Colin just shook his head with a sigh at the fact that Damien couldn't express or acknowledge his obvious feelings for Tarry and because with the rate Bart was going with his big mouth he was predicting only having one best friend by the end of today due Damien strangling him to death.

It wasn't long before the soccer teams came out to face off for the soccer game and the sight that Damien saw when he looked over to where the cheerleaders were bouncing up and down in excitement to cheer on their soccer team to confirm whether the new cheerleader really had been Tarry, he had to consciously make sure his shock, the burning feeling that was threatening to appear on his face, and the fact that his heart was beating off the Richter scale all visibly didn't appear on his face. _Great she really did look amaz-,_ he stopped himself from thinking with a shake of his head as he realized if he let himself continue to think that way he would be no better than the boys he stuffed in a locker and what was worse he would have to admit to Colin that he was right, which was definitely not going to happen.

"What are you doing?" Damien inquired as he came face to face with Tarry causing all the cheerleaders to stop their cheering to look on with both interest and jealousy that the new girl was getting attention from him they could only dream of.

"Cheering you on of course," Tarry replied with a matter of fact tone as she could hardly wait for him to comment on her outfit like Emily said he would.

"Is this your idea of some kind of joke," Damien stated with disapproval clearly in his eyes that was trying to mask emotions that were the exact opposite.

"No, I just thought that may be you would like that I came to cheer you on," Tarry explained with hope in her voice that somehow Damien wasn't angry at her for trying to repay him for all the things he has done for her, although this could never amount to the feelings of gratitude she had towards him but it was a start.

"What makes you think I would like something like this? I don't need you cheering me on so just go change."

Hearing those words somehow stung more than any beating she ever received from the Joker to the point that she had to try very hard to fight back tears that she masked with anger that rivaled Damien's. "I get it you think that I won't be able do this well I'm going to prove you wrong!"

"Please get over yourself, it bothers me you even thought you would make a good cheerleader," Damien retorted as he walked away thoroughly pissed off that she wouldn't follow his orders and quit the team. _What's was wrong with her? Did she enjoy having all those other guys gawking at her like she is a piece of meat?_ Damien thought as the very notion that he had to share what he considered was his own source of amusement with other boys infuriated him to no end.

"You know you can't get brownie points if you make a girl cry," Colin stated nonchalantly as Damien went to his position on the soccer field.

"That's funny I wasn't trying to achieve any such thing and there's no way that would make her cry, she's been though a lot worse without shading a tear," Damien replied with a smile of triumph as he saw Tarry walking away from where all the cheerleaders were standing.

No matter how much Tarry wanted to stay if only to prove Damien wrong she couldn't as the head cheerleader herself demanded she got off the team that instant with the reason that she couldn't have a girl on the team that Damien himself considered an eyesore.

"Sorry Emily I guess you were wrong about me being Gotham Bats material," Tarry whispered so low that only Emily could hear as she walked away back into the changing room where she threw off her clothes in a fury of anger. She was angry at herself that she ever fell for the notion that she could make it up to Damien through cheering him on as a cheerleader, after all, Damien probably didn't need her to anyway his ego was already way too big. _But did he really have to show that much dislike?_ She thought as she concluded that he probably thought she was an eyesore in that outfit like Wendy had said. As it dawned on her that maybe Damien preferred girls like Wendy she couldn't help but let a few tears fall down her face as she smashed a mirror on her way out.

* * *

For the rest of the day Damien couldn't help feel the tension between them as Tarry spent the rest of the day completely silent as she begun to space out again and look out the window like before their little talk during recess, but unlike before he could always count on her say something anything when he spoke to her. There were several times he tried to talk to her about anything like why she had dried up blood on her knuckles or about the scenery she seemed to be fixated on but each every time he was greeted with the answer of silence. This carried on through Geography and Science until the bell rang this time telling everyone school was over. As soon as the bell was heard Tarry got up and stormed out of the room causing Damien to react instantly by following her, but before he could get close to her both Colin and Bart stopped him from going after her.

"Dude you can't just go after a girl when they get like that without a game plan, unless you have a death wish," Bart explained as he got Damien to grudgingly get back into his seat.

"And I suggest either groveling or flowers," Colin added as they sunk into debating how Damien should go about dealing with such a situation and for the first time in a while Damien sat there and listened to his friends, after all, he couldn't make the situation much worse by listening to them but he could if he was left to his own devices not because he wanted to hurt Tarry it was more like he's never been around anyone his age that took offense to what he said and even if they did there were few that he actually cared enough about to say the dreaded S word that was so foreign to the Boy Wonder's mouth.

* * *

Meanwhile as the boys discussed how Damien was going to beg Tarry for forgiveness, Tarry was getting ready to leave when two boys came up beside her with smirks as they watched her close her locker to acknowledge their presences.

"Hey your Tarry right, we saw you with the cheerleaders at lunch," one of the boys greeted only to have Tarry to walk away from them as if they weren't really there.

"We're talking to you beautiful," the other boy stated as he quickly managed to cut her off from leaving through the exit.

"I know but I'm not in the mood to care," was all Tarry could muster out without releasing the pent up anger that had been swelling within ever since lunch. She was done playing nice like she promised Bruce, she managed to go the whole day without throwing the knife wedged into the side of her underwear that she had convinced herself to bring just in case of an emergency. But right about now as she saw that the boys weren't taking the hint that she wasn't in the mood to play their little game she was getting dangerously close to breaking Bruce's rule about not cutting her classmates.

"Come on, we saw what Damien did and we thought we could cheer you up."

"You're wasting your time," Tarry corrected as she pushed past the boy that was blocking her from the exit with the hope that they would get the message before she had to use force on them. But once outside she felt someone lock her arm in death grip while they flung her against the school's brick wall; that was the spark that initiated the bomb that sent the two boys into a world of pain.

* * *

Damien walked out of the school building while reciting all the advice that his friends had given him to patch things up with Tarry. He recited the two most important rules over the others first was to admit he was wrong and be truthful to her, which were two things Damien wasn't use to doing but it beat sleeping with one eye open tonight. Damien rounded a corner just to have shock register across his face as a knife came flinging at him missing him by only an inch as it left a small crater where it entered the wall upon impact. The only thing that made shock register on his face a second time was seeing Tarry standing over two unconscious boys he was pretty sure he stuffed into a locker earlier today.

"Tarry I'm sorry for what I said to you at lunch I was out of line," Damien apologized as he dug out her knife only to hand it back to her.

"If you know that why bother saying all those things in the first place," Tarry asked through greeted teeth as she took back the knife, while contemplating whether to use it on him again, but as soon as she saw Damien's face go a shade of red as he tried to muster up the courage and the words to reply to her question she knew she had to hear what was coming.

"I guess when I said you wouldn't make a good cheerleader was because I didn't want you associating yourself with those ditzy unappealingly dressed girls. Plus not many of those girls play with knives or can take out two guys without breaking a sweat, that's why you aren't cheerleading material and that's what I like about you," Damien finally managed out with a smile of relief when he saw Tarry smiling back at him. With that settled the two of them walked towards the limo that Alfred was going to take them home in, but not before Damien cleaned the splatter of blood off Tarry's face and went over all the things she couldn't do at school, beating up people until they were knocked out was one of the top on his list. And that's what ended their first hectic day at school now they only had to get through two more months of it without getting into trouble, which was easier said than done.

****Stay tuned and review next chapter is about what happened to Tarry's real father.**


End file.
